Devil Beside You
by Chimbits
Summary: A mistake causes them to meet each other. She hates his tyrannical and unreasonable ways and for turning her whole world upside down. She wants to get away from this devil but carelessly falls in love with him instead!-CHAPTER 21 up!-
1. Meeting the Devil

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Heehee!Ü**

**Whoops! This is Chapter 1 EDITED.**

**I would just like to apologize to all of you if I sounded so snobby in my previous "Chapter 1." I guess I was deeply affected since the first review I ever received was a flame. =( I felt so down after reading that mean review. This is my first multichap fic too....**

**But a lot of encouraging reviews have kept me up, and now I enjoy writing every single chapter of it! Thank you so much! Now I would like to say something: Flames are NOT welcome...*goo-goo eyes* RaiChia worked hard on this fic too, although she is not as good as you think.**

**A/N: I was inspired by the TV show, Devil Beside You. Won't it be fun if Ichi and Ruki play their roles? And with a different twist too?**

**.ENJOY!!Ü**

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* * *

**Seventeen-year-old Rukia Kuchiki looked at the clock. Class seemed to go on forever. She pretended to listen as Kyoraku-sensei, their brown-haired math teacher, babbled on and on about 'x's and 'y's and...whatever those are. She was usually a good student. She is almost the only one with complete notes, and she submits her projects at least three days before the deadline. But right now, she didn't know why, but she was extremely bored. She preferred daydreaming better, she really did. She sighed and thought about her and Renji. She smiled. _Renji really is handsome...OH, darn it. What am I talking about? _

Rukia winced. What on earth is wrong with her? The petite girl knew it that it wasn't like her at all to be head-over-heels towards a guy. She didn't even know why she told Orihime and Momo, her best friends since childhood, that she liked Renji Abarai, the captain of the basketball team. She sighed inwardly. She knew Renji was nice, and that was really true. A lot of girls around her college campus were crazy about the red-haired guy. And ever since the first day of school, he's been the only one whom Rukia has really noticed.

_Who AM I KIDDING?, _she though to herself, grinning.

_A wide, flowery-meadow._

_What? Renji's standing in front of me! Oh my...  
_

_ Only the two of us are here? Weird. I lowered my head, trying to hide the blush spreading across my cheeks. Suddenly, I glanced up towards him and his gentle face. What is this strange feeling? I put my hand in my chest, as if it would stop my heart from beating furiously. And, I know, my face was practically looking like a tomato too._

_"Now's your only chance, Rukia. Don't be stupid and blow it!"  
_

_Renji looked at me. Is it just me, or is he really that cute? I felt a bit uncomfortable, standing in front of him like this. Real weird, isn't it?  
_

_I fiddled with my thumb. I am SO nervous. But I gotta do it! I decided that it's now or never. I cleared my throat as I pushed all those unnecessary thoughts far back into my brain as I possibly could. Here goes... "Renji, I...I like you..."_

_Suddenly, he smiled at me. Way to go, RUKI. That smile...my day wouldn't be a day without that. I felt like jelly. I gulped, waiting for his answer. I stared into his eyes, as if searching him. I want to know the answer, Renji. I want to. I took a deep breath. "Renji, it's-it's...okay if..."  
_

_Renji raised an eyebrow and smirked. I paused. Was this it? The rejection I feared so much? I mentally slapped myself. So much for confessing. I closed my eyes. I knew it was going to hurt. It had to. Rejections are rejections, after all. And, sad to say, I can't do anything about that. What a freak I am._

_"Rukia, I like you too. A lot."_

_I took a deep breath. "I know." _

_...._

_HELLO? RUKIA? EARTH! My eyes practically rolled out upon hearing those...words. Words? No, they're not just words. They were something that meant a lot more than that. I was speechless as I stared back at his smiling face. What could I say? A flood of mixed emotions overcame me, but I didn't look away. _

_"Renji..."  
_

_ He leaned forward and ki--  
_

"Miss KUCHIKI!," Rukia heard a voice. The meadow, Renji, that gorgeous smile. They were all gone.

Kyoraku-sensei hit his desk with a stick, causing the raven-haired girl's eyes to widen in shock. "Bored, aren't you?"

Rukia lowered her head, embarrassed. Well, she couldn't help it! Though...she can't tell him that. "Pay attention, please," Kyoraku-sensei said, turning back to the board.

Rukia sighed. Then she caught a glimpse of Renji, who was also looking at her. The redhead smiled softly at her, causing her to look away. Her face turned into a tomato again. She looked at her notebook, and with her willpower, she tried her best to focus on her class. She glanced at Orihime who was sitting in the desk beside her. Orihime looked back at her and frowned, "There you go again," she mouthed.

Rukia gave her the school-girl smile, "I can't help it!!!," she mouthed back, quickly turning her eyes back to the board.

She sighed exasperatedly. "Algebra," she muttered, shaking her head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Thursday. Rukia sighed as she waited in her locker for Orihime and Momo. It was their friendship tradition to go eat somewhere during Thursdays. Despite the fact that she gets to choose where they eat that day, she was feeling pretty down. It was that Renji thingy again. She rolled her eyes and smacked herself. _Get over it, idiot. _Finally, for what seemed like hours, Orihime and Momo arrived, looking pretty stressed out. P.E. was to blame.

"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting!," said Momo with a wink.

"Yeah, Coach Zaraki punished us by making us do this weird dances," Orihime said, making a face.

Rukia gave them a small smile. The two looked knowingly at each other. They knew better. And they knew something was up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

During the train ride to Jollibee, the restaurant Rukia picked, she was mostly quiet. She knew her friends noticed and she was acting weird, but thinking about that Renji guy was making it worse. Her willpower wasn't enough. They reached Jollibee in no time, and the three quickly found seats as Orihime ordered food.

Momo smiled and patted Rukia's head. "Hey, hey, hey! Why the long face, Rukia?," she asked, resting her chin on her hands.

Rukia pouted and lowered her head. How can she explain it? She couldn't even understand the situation herself.

Orihime soon arrived, carrying the tray containing their food toward the table. Being the oldest among the three, she was usually known for her big sister attitude. And she knows exactly why Rukia was acting so depressed.

"She still hasn't confessed to Renji, " Orihime whispered to Momo, as she placed the tray carefully on their table and took a seat.

Upon hearing her words, Rukia pouted even more. It was true, she still didn't confess to Renji. She didn't _want _to. It was confusing her so much. She didn't even see a reason why she should confess. It wasn't like she wanted them to be together or something like that. Those things were way too strange for her. She liked guys before, but she wouldn't say she _fell in love. _She didn't even know what falling in love was like. Suddenly, Inoue patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry, my friend..," Orihime said "We _will_ help you confess your love for Renji! And no one will get in our way! Bwahahahaha!," Inoue declared, laughing hysterically. Momo joined her and the two laughed like there was no tomorrow.

Rukia stared at them and sweat-dropped. Way to go. She smiled. She appreciated the fact that they want to cheer her up, but her mind was deeply focused on that Renji thingy that has been bothering her since last week. She wanted to sort out her feelings, but she didn't even know where to begin. She was a baby when it came to these things.

* * *

The next day approached quickly. And, the raven-haired girl was dreading it so much. She knew she was being a total coward, but she couldn't pull herself together. But today, no matter how scared or nervous she felt, she _was _going to give that letter she wrote to Renji. Orihime and Momo had promised to help her. The thought somehow made her feel alright, although there were still butterlies fluttering in her stomach. Taking a deep breath, she examined herself in the mirror in the restroom. Today was THE day when he will finally know how she felt. Or maybe not.

_Stop it, Rukia. You ARE going to give it to him. No. Matter. What._, she thought to herself, pursing her lips.

_Here goes..._

She walked out the girls' restroom, taking a deep breath.

* * *

Second period was finally over. Rukia, Momo, and Inoue went near the staircase that led to the second floor. They found out that Renji's next class was Integrated Science, based on Orihime's _detective _skills. The Integrated Science room was upstairs, so in order to get there, Renji would have to use the stairs. Momo and Inoue hid behind the stairs, while Rukia just waited nervously for Renji at the bottom of it.

Rukia looked at Inoue, who, in turn, gave her a thumbs-up sign. This was it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Renji coming. She took a deep breath. Her heart was beating so fast and she felt like she would pass out in ten minutes. Renji was only a few feet away from her. As Rukia listened closely to his footsteps, her heart raced even faster.

Renji was almost there.

She lowered her head and stretched out her hands to hand him the letter. "Please..accept this letter. I've worked on it really hard. In it are my feelings for you...so please...read it...," she muttered. _You might not have understood, but--_

She looked up only to see an...orange-haired guy? It took her a few moments to realize that it wasn't Renji she had confessed and was _accidentally _handing the letter to. She hadn't noticed that the redhead had his iPod in his ears. No wonder he didn't hear her. Renji loved heavy metal music. Even if the volume was turned a bit low, he still wouldn't have heard her.

The orange-haired guy smirked at her. Rukia's mouth hung open, as she thought desperately about what to say. Her cheeks turned a million shades of deep red from the embarrassment. It was then that she noticed that his smirk wasn't an ordinary smirk. It was a devilish one. And it was giving her the creeps. Why would this idiot smirk at her like this? Was he making fun of her? Rukia's heart was a mixture of emotions. She was angry, angry at herself for such stupidity, humiliated at what her stupidity had caused her, and nervous.

Having loss of words, she quickly turned around and ran off. She didn't care where she might end up in. Right now, she needed so badly to get out of there. Away from the humiliation.

_Stupid!_

What she didn't realize, though, was the letter that fell to the ground.

* * *

From their location behind the stairs, Inoue and Momo clearly saw what happened. Momo's eyes grew wide and Inoue held back a shriek. They looked at each other, horrified. What they saw was too much of a shock. Neither knew what to say. Not only did Rukia confess to the wrong person, but she confessed to the son of the school's president, the popular Ichigo Kurosaki, who was known as "The Prince of Seduction."

Orihime took a deep breath. _What have you gotten yourself into, Rukia?_

_....._

_...._

_..._

_.._

_.  
_

Rukia ran as fast as she could. It was the only thing she could do. She tried her best to fight back the tears that formed at the back of her eyes. She couldn't cry, she _shouldn't. _

She ran away. She didn't care where her legs took her to, just as long as she got away from there. Inoue and Momo followed her. They kept on giving each other worried glances, until they had caught up to where Rukia was. She was sitting under a tree, a look of embarrassment carved on her face.

Inoue and Momo sat down beside her. "Rukia-chan, it's okay...," Momo said softly, stroking her back. Good, old Momo.

Rukia shook her head to the negative. Okay? She knew her friends were trying their very best to comfort her, but she was nowhere near okay. "No, it's not!!! I had confessed to the wrong person...I don't even know that guy, " she wailed, sighing exasperatedly, as an image of orange hair dwelt in her mind.

Momo and Inoue gave each other a Look. Here she was again...the two agreed that Rukia was sometimes pretty stubborn and so..difficult, but they loved her anyway. Inoue, being the "big sister" of the group, cleared her throat and said, "Actually, Rukia...you really did make a big mistake.."

Momo's jaw hit the floor. She mentally smacked herself. _Aren't we supposed to be cheering her up? _

Rukia looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean, Inoue?" Behind her, Inoue could see Momo mouthing strange words to her. Inoue just shrugged and went on.

"Rukia, that _guy_ was Ichigo Kurosaki, the son of the college president. He's known as the Prince Of Seduction. He's quite scary too. No one can get in his way. He bullies people who do so. Rumor has it that he and his gang was once _almost_ arrested," Inoue winced. "And also, he has power over the teachers since he's the school's president's son. You really should be miserable..."

"No wonder he's called the prince of seduction! He's so cute!," Momo chimed happily and Inoue nodded in agreement, folding her arms across her chest.

Rukia buried her head in her hands, a million thoughts swimming in her mind. _Cute? _As far as she can see, 'cute' and that devil did not belong together. And Prince of Seduction? Please. She wasn't the least bit _seduced_. Talk about total idiocracy. She wanted to jump off a cliff. _If _there was a cliff anywhere near her. She felt as if she just gained a hundred pounds more. "Nooooooooo...This can't be happening!, " she said through gritted teeth.

Momo and Inoue shrugged at each other helplessly. It didn't cheer their friend one bit, but at least they were honest. Rukia sure had gotten herself into a pretty tough mess, and they weren't sure how to help her get out of it. As far as they knew, the president's son was pretty evil. He was known to play mean tricks on everybody. And, considering the fact that they were _almost _arrested, he was probably a lot more worse than they could ever think of.

"I'm such an idiot...," she told herself angrily. What a way to confess.

What she didn't know though, was that the biggest mistake she has ever made is the only mistake that would turn out right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Staring back at the direction the raven-haired girl ran off to, Ichigo smirked. There was something weird about the girl. For instance, she was pretty short for a college student. What a day. Shaking his head, he bent down and took a look at the piece of envelop lying at the ground. Smirking to himself, he picked it up. "From Rukia, To Renji, eh?," he said out loud, examining the letter. _College crushes sure are weird._

"Looks like someone has a crush on Mister Basketball Captain..."

* * *

**XD!!XD!!XD!! Yay!! So, what did you think of it?? huh? huh? Huh?? Review please!! I'll update faster!! (smiles broadly) **

**Looks like I need to describe them a little bit more, hm?ell, lemme know what you think!!! I'll try my best! ^__^  
**


	2. What'd you say?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Haha...**

**Anyway, this is chapter 2 of Devil Beside You, EDITED! Read and Enjoy! Thanks to those who reviewed in the first chapter! Help me keep this up, guys! Heehee!Ü I'm planning on twisting it here and there, and everywhere! ^__________^  
**

**And REVIEW please?!  
**

**

* * *

**Rukia walked slowly back to the place where she dropped her letter, hoping it was still there. She knew she had to get back home soon. It was getting pretty dark. Huge clouds formed in the sky, and looked like they were about to pour any minute.

The raven-haired girl was pretty much confused. After everything that had happened, she didn't even know how she could ever get out of _the _embarrassment. She looked up at the sky. Sure, it was going to rain soon. She scurried down to the hallway and down into the staircase, her feet going so fast she was already running out of breath.

It was raining already, but she didn't mind. She had to find that letter...or else. She was feeling very disappointed and angry at herself at the same time. How could she confess to the wrong person??? And of all the freakin' people in the world, why did she have to _accidentally _confess to _the _Ichigo Kurosaki? She sighed and frowned. She was really, really pissed off. As soon as she reached the staircase, she looked around.

_Oh no, it's not here!, _she panicked, her eyes darting toward the spot where she stood earlier. She took a deep breath. What if someone found out about it? What if they read it? What if they started making rumors about her? Rukia stopped in her tracks, deeply taking a breath. She ran a hand through her raven hair as she tried to calm herself down.

_Rukia, you idiot...okay, calm down, and relax. It must've flown somewhere, _she thought as she slowly opened her eyes. She tried to scan around the place once more, only to find dust. No such luck.

She ran back up the stairs, her raven hair flowing messily on her face. _Oh no...if anybody finds out about it..._

She shook her head. Just thinking about it gave her the creeps. She just couldn't imagine herself being the laughingstock of the whole school.

She tried to look around some more. Surely the letter couldn't have gone very far. _Right, _she thought. _Right?, _said her face.

She dashed onto a nearby bench, that was under a cypress tree. It was located on the front yard of the school. She looked around once again hoping and praying that somehow, the letter flew under it or somewhere near it. She scooted down and looked everywhere. The rain was pouring and it was just making it harder for her to find the missing letter. Her clothes were soaked now. And she was more than sure that her mom would have a fit when she gets home.

She wiped at her eyes and kept looking around.

Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her. "Hey, you lookin' for something?"

Rukia didn't even bother to turn around. It was probably some old guard or something. "Yeah," she answered quickly, examining the bench in front of her.

"What is it? I'll help you look for it."

Her eyes busily darted here and there. Where could that letter have gone to, anyway? "I'm looking for a lett--"

Suddenly, she realized something and very slowly looked up._ Why is that voice kinda familiar?_ Her violet orbs grew wide as her mouth hung open. It was...Renji. The redhead guy was dressed in hi P.E. clothes, carrying a duffel bag in his right shoulder. His other hand was holding up a green umbrella. Talk about perfect timing.

Rukia blushed and slowly stood up. There was that _funny _feeling again. She cleared her throat and smiled at the redhead. Renji smiled back and gave her a questioning look. Rukia lowered her head. "I mean, a four-leaf clover," she immediately answered.

Sometimes, it was much less awkward when you're not looking directly in the eyes.

"Four-leaf clover?," asked Renji. Rukia nodded and smiled. _What am I saying? Could I be more idiotic? _

Renji nodded in understanding and smiled back at her. "Hi. I'm Renji Abarai. We're in the same Biology class," he said, holding out his hand for her to shake. He couldn't help but find her cute. Next to him, she looked like a dog. Renji was a rather tall guy with broad shoulders and she...well, she was...small.

Rukia nodded and shook his hand. "Yes, Biology class."_ Don't look up, don't look up, don't look at his eyes. Tattoos. Yes, stare at his tattoos.  
_

Renji smiled awkwardly at her. "Uhh...are you alright? You're getting pretty soaked." He leaned forward and handed her the umbrella. Rukia gently took it. So gentle that Renji thought the wind carried it away.

"Thanks," she muttered as they both scooted down and looked around.

They looked here and there. No four-leaf clover. And the harsh rain was making it harder to find. Rukia swallowed a big gulp. It was weird that she was looking for a four-leaf clover on such a weather. And she even bothered the poor guy. She mentally smacked herself. Just as she was about to speak, she felt a pair of eyes beside her.

_What?_

Tension. She lifted her head a little and blushed. Renji was staring at her, and she knew it. But why? Was it because of the stupid four-leaf clover? Did he think she was dumb? She looked at him, her eyes meeting his intense gaze. Rukia blinked and tried to calm down. Her heart was beating too fast, and her breathing was shallow. Why, oh why was Renji staring at her? The hairs on back of her neck stood up, as she saw him move towards her. Her face turned red as she clutched the umbrella so tight that her knuckles turned white. _Oh no...what is he gonna do???_

Rukia took a deep breath. It was weird, she had never felt so tense in her whole life. Renji's gaze was so piercing that she was only minutes away from melting. She lowered her head to hide the crimson blush in her cheeks. She felt her heart beat even more faster, throbbing in her ears. It was really hard. It felt like it wanted to jump out of her chest and into Renji's face at that very minute. Renji mover closer and closer to her until she felt his cold breath on her cheeks.

She blinked, not meeting his gaze. Was this it? Was he really gonna do what she thinks he's gonna do? And it was already impossible to calm her heart down. She was blushing and her face grew really hot that she already felt steam rising up to her face. All of a sudden, she felt Renji's finger brush something off at her shoulder.

Rukia stopped blinking as her heart made a flip flop at his sudden touch. _Huh?_

"Don't worry, you just..had a bug on your shoulder," Renji said, flashing her one of those killer smiles.

Rukia let out a big sigh of relief, still not meeting his gaze. _Yeah right, pfft._

"It's getting dark. You better go home soon," said Renji. It was good that the rain had finally let up. He smiled and stood up and started to walk away. "You can keep the umbrella."

Rukia blushed as she closed her eyes and gathered enough courage to call his name. _Stop being an idiot for a day, please. _She cleared her throat. "Renji," she squeaked, the red tinge on her cheeks showing fiercely. She shut her eyes closed. She was being dumb, but for goodness' sake, she needed to know how she felt!

Renji immediately turned around, raising an eyebrow at her. Rukia tried to force a smile as she stammered to introduce herself. "M-my name is..."

"Rukia," Renji continued for her, smiling. Rukia. He's heard her name so many times in class.

Rukia smiled back at him, feeling all the nervousness go away. Oh well, turns out that he knew her name. She nodded. Wait. What? He KNEW her name! "Bye-bye," she called out, giving him a little wave. Renji waved back before turning around and walking away.

When the was out of sight, Rukia's face broke into a smile as she tried to contain all the excitement within her. "He knows my name...," she whispered, a blush making its way across her face. Now, she didn't really mind. She felt so insane but so happy inside. Awhile ago, her heart wanted to burst from nervousness, but now it felt like it wanted to burst from so much happiness. She clutched the umbrella tightly. _Wherever that letter is, I just hope nobody finds it._

_

* * *

_

Back at the staircase, Ichigo leaned on his bike, holding the letter he found. Typical 'love' letter. With hearts all over it. Ichigo snorted. _How mushy..._

From there, he got a perfect view of the girl from before. He smirked to himself. He had seen the whole thing. "My, my. What a scene," he said, taking a deep breath as he put his helmet on.

The girl, whom he'd just found out to be named Rukia, was actually in the same Biology class as that basketball captain. "Interesting," he muttered to himself, stepping on his bike and driving off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

As Rukia made her way to the old restaurant where her mom, Hisana, worked, she smiled at herself. It had finally stopped raining and she decided to fold the umbrella and place it inside her backpack. The restaurant wasn't very far from her college. It was just near Karakura Mall. The restaurant, along with its workers, was pretty unique. It had a cozy atmosphere inside that was very welcoming. The outside was decorated to look like an ordinary house, complete with a porch, pretty orchids around the sides, and a big, red rug that said:

W E L C O M E

The inside, though, had a painting of a fireplace in the middle. Pictures of the previous owners and their families lined up the wall. The counter was located at the right side of the restaurant. The cozy chairs were draped with fancy cloths, while the tables were painted with floral designs. A warm, yellowish light spread through the place, giving everyone a cozy and warm feeling.

She felt her phone ringing in her pocket and quickly took it out. "Hello," she answered happily. Her smile was so wide her face looked like it was going to break. It was Inoue.

"Hello, Rukia. Did you find the letter???," Inoue asked worriedly. The auburn-haired girl knew it wasn't like her best friend to sound this happy especially when something important is missing. Something was definitely up.

Upon hearing the auburn-haired girl's voice and analyzing the question, her face dropped. She almost heard a BONK on the floor. She mentally slapped herself. _UGH! Darn._

"No, I haven't," she said grimly, letting out a huff, as she crossed her arms across her chest.

Rukia could hear her friend wince.

"No? Don't worry, we can look for it tomorrow," Inoue said, calming down. Well, that was better than anything. And with that, they both hung up.

Rukia breathed nervously and clasped her fingers together. "God, please blow the letter all the way to Argentina!," she prayed silently, her eyes closed. She knew that was pretty impossible, considering how far Japan from Argentina is. She sighed.

She let out a small smile, trying to look at the bright side again. _Better, _she thought. "It's okay...if I hadn't gone back, I wouldn't have talked to Renji, right?," she told herself, a blush making its way across her cheeks. Shaking her head, she rushed inside the old restaurant, pushing open the door. A soft ring of the door bell was heard as the raven-haired girl saw the boss lady approach her.

Rukia smiled. The boss lady was a very pretty woman, with jet-black, long hair tied in two beautiful braids that ran down to her waist. Her eyes seemed to sparkle every time a customer comes in. She wore a white floral blouse with a ribbon on both sleeves. Her light brown slacks complimented her slender legs.

"Boss lady," she called out to her, smiling. The boss smiled back at her, her dark eyes twinkling.

"Rukia. you're here," she said. Rukia smiled again. The boss lady's voice was so soft that she barely heard it.

"I'm here to meet my mom."

"Oh, she just went out to make a delivery. It's just around the corner," she said, raising her hand and pointing outside the building. "And please, feel free to call me Unohana."

She nodded. As she made her way outside the building, Unohana gave her a small wave and said, "And...one more thing, dear.  
Your mom seems a bit distracted lately, so please be more aware of her."

Rukia nodded and thanked Unohana. It was already 7:00 p.m. She had to get her mother so they could eat dinner soon. Her stomach was growling at her like a bunch of hyenas. She sighed and continued walking. If her mom was distracted, she couldn't have gone very far. A million was swimming through the raven-haired girl's mind as she quickened her pace. What could be bothering her mother?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Hisana walked slowly across the bridge, her purple eyes downcast. She didn't know why, but she was feeling kind of...confused. Just then, images of chicken and rice started floating through her mind. She shook her head as if to shake them off. _You're making a delivery. focus, okay?, _she told herself, briefly stopping for a moment, breathing deeply, and walking again.

She walked carefully down the stairs, her high heels making clacketty sounds as she took her steps. Without warning, her foot slipped and the next thing she knew was...

_THUD!_

Her eyes grew wide as she saw her delivery fly up then fall down, and splatter onto the ground. "OWWWWW!," she screamed as she felt the pain on her bottom. She felt a painful sting on her hand. As she held it in front of her, she saw a rather huge gash across it.

"Mom!," a voice called. Hisana looked up to see Rukia, who was running towards her, looking worried. As the raven-haired girl approached her, she scooted down beside Hisana and examined her hand. It had a huge cut across it, but it wasn't that deep. Rukia shook her head as she made a face at her mom. _Geez, how can she be so careless?_

Hisana took her hand away from Rukia and started blowing on it. Rukia sweat-dropped as Hisana gave her a puppy-look. "Rukia! It hurts so much!," she wailed. Rukia let out an exasperated sigh. Oh well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

* * *

Rukia gently wiped Hisana's cut with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol. Hisana kept on blowing on the wound. Rukia shook her head. As far as she knew, it was awfully weird for her mom to be like this. She was acting like a three-year-old, calling the cut a 'boo-boo' and endlessly wailing.

Rukia stopped wiping on the cut and said, "Okay-okay." Then she saw Hisana holding up a Hello-Kitty band-aid and smiling brightly at her.

_Sheesh._

"Use this!!," she said, grinning. Rukia stared at the band-aid and then back to her mom. She took it from her hands and sighed. "Okay." Then, she began to unwrap it carefully. "Mom, why aren't you more careful?," she asked, frowning. If this happens a second time, she swore...she swore..

Hisana sighed and put her hand down as Rukia finally finished sticking the band aid. "Such a waste of chicken dinners," she murmured, shaking her head. Rukia frowned even more. Why was she ignoring the question?

"Mom, is there something that's bothering you?," she asked, giving Hisana her best don't-you-dare-escape look.

Hisana didn't answer. "No?" Hisana shook her head. Rukia narrowed her eyes and looked her mom directly in the eye. If it weren't for the height difference, one wouldv'e mistaken them for twins. Hisana was a no more than a foot taller than Rukia.

"Boss lady said you're often distracted at work," the raven-haired girl said, pouting.

"I...," Hisana began. She had an 'awwwwww' look in her face. Her daughter just looked too cute when she's worried like that. Just then, Rukia glared at her, eyes narrowed. Hisana felt a pang of guilt and hurriedly looked down. After all they both agreed before that...

"Didn't you say we'd never keep secrets? Hm? Hm? Hm?," Rukia prompted. She was right. It was Hisana who said that, so why was she keeping something from her? It's not like Rukia would tell it to the whole world or anything. She was her daughter, for goodness' sake!

Hisana lowered her head even more, her bangs almost covering her eyes. She desperately thought of what to say. Poor Rukia was worrying about her and she was trying to keep it from her!

She was surprised when a hand suddenly pulled hers. She lifted her head, only to meet Rukia's determined eyes. She looked back at her daughter questioningly. "Let's go," the raven-haired girl said, pulling Hisana by the hand.

"Huh? Where?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

_What exactly are we doing here?_, Hisana thought, looking around. Karakura Park. What about it then? She looked at Rukia, who sat down a bench across from her. Something bothered her about the look on Rukia's face. She seemed so...solemn.

"Mom, don't you remember this place?," Rukia said softly. The wind blew, making her soft hair flow across her face. The park was pretty quiet now for it was already nighttime. The streetlamps were lit with a soft, yellowy light. Hisana tried to think back. What was it about this place? For some reason, it seemed quite familiar to her. She cast Rukia a questioning look.

"Mom, do you remember when dad died?," the raven-haired girl began, smiling weakly at her mother, "We were broke. We couldn't even afford my field trip. And at that time, there was a theft incident and they all blamed me. Even with no proof. They didn't believe me so they bullied me instead. They tore up my homework, and threw my bag in the trash can..."

Hisana smiled back sadly, the memory becoming clear in her mind. "But you still didn't tell me so I wouldn't worry. Instead, you skipped school to come here. When I found you, you still won't tell me."

Rukia nodded and went on. "I remember that day...when you said that there would be no more secrets between us. And that...we only have each other. You worry about me just like I worry about you," said with a shrug, her weak smile turning into a genuine one.

"From then on, whenever we had something that we couldn't say, we'd come here."

Hisana gave her a soft smile. Nobody could ever know how thankful she was to have a daughter like Rukia. Sure, she may be a bit cold at times, and is a bit in denial with how she feels, but...she was the luckiest mother to have such a daughter. She was the only family she has right now, and Rukia trusted her with everything, so why shouldn't she trust her with _her _everything too?

"Rukia...I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose," she said, lowering her head. She tried to keep herself calm. She had to tell her everything, whether her daughter accepts it or not.

"What's the matter, mom? Tell me and we'll solve it together," she said with a reassuring smile.

"I...Ivolleleuwyzmwa."

Rukia leaned closer. "Huh?" Why was she whispering anyway?

"I said Ivolleleuwyzma!"

"Mom!," Rukia wailed.

Hisana slumped forward. Oh well. "I've fallen in love with someone," she said it ever so slow Rukia thought that if those words were alive and crawling, a turtle could crawl faster than it could.

"Oh!," Rukia said, finally getting the point. She grinned. Hisana took a deep breath, smiling back at her daughter. _Wow...I didn't think she'd approve that--_

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?"

_--fast._

* * *

**Yay! End of chapter 2!!! Whew, I didn't think it'd be this hard editing a chap! UGH! Ü Anyway, please review, guys!!! Pretty, pretty please!? I'll really update as fast as I can, p.r.o.m.i.s.e.! Thank you also for reading!Ü I loooooove all of you!  
**

**Love,**

**RaiChia.  
**


	3. Blackmail

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, nor Devil Beside You or whatever...oh how sad...=((**

**Well, here's chapter three!!! Woohoohoo!!!Ü Anyway, thanks to those who are so kind to review!!! You guys are very much appreciated! I hope you will stay tuned until the very end! ^_- Go DBY!!!  
**

**

* * *

**

Rukia's mouth formed a wide circle. How ..Ble. "What?? You're secret is that you've fallen in love?," she screamed. Oh boy, her brain could just explode any given minute!

Hisana fidgeted uncomfortably and looked at Rukia with a guilty face. "I lied to you...and secretly went out with a man.."

Rukia still couldn't believe it. "I never imagined you were dating!!," she said, throwing up her arms. _Oh mom..._

Hisana was shocked. Her daughter must be disappointed. She put her hands in her mouth, eyes growing wide. "I'll never see him again!!," she said, hoping she could calm her panicking daughter down.

Rukia looked at Hisana strictly, folding her hands across her chest and raising an eyebrow. "He has a wife?"

Hisana didn't know what to do. Rukia sounded really mad. Her poor daughter might think she's...

"You're the home-wrecker who ruined their lives??," Rukia added, eyes narrowing even more at her mom. Hisana tried to calm her down. "Rukia, no..He's divorced."

Rukia still wasn't convinced. She narrowed her eyes again and asked. "Are you sure??" Rukia knew she was being silly, but she just wanted to make sure that her mom was dating the right kind of guy. She loved her mom, and she definitely wouldn't want anything that would hurt her. "How did you meet? How long did you stay together?"

Hisana thought for a moment. "When...he came to our restaurant..."

_**-three weeks ago-**_

_Hisana walked swiftly as she carefully held the tray in her hands. She had to make it to the counter to do some errands for boss lady. "Oh, what a busy, busy day," she muttered to herself, sighing. Suddenly, she hit a man's head with the tray. Oh, how embarrassing. Hisana sweat-dropped, her eyes growing wide. "Oh well, he didn't react! Perfect escape!," she thought to herself.  
_

_The next day, that same man was there...sitting at the table where he sat yesterday. Hisana carefully placed the tea in the tray to deliver it to that man. She walked to wards him and took the tea from the tray."Sir, your..." Instead of putting it down carefully, she splashed the tea on the man's face. "Tea," she continued. _

_The next day, that same man was there again. It looks like it's his favorite restaurant that's why he keeps coming back. Hisana had finished cleaning plates. Then she saw that man leaving. When hisana took a look at the table where he sat, she saw his wallet. Oh no...she ran fast just in time to grab the man's arm...er, sleeve. "Sir!" The sleeve tore off. Hisana stared at it in bewilderment. "Your...wallet."_

_The next day, that man was there...again. It seems like he never gets sick of eating at the same restaurant everyday. The man started to eat. just then, he saw that woman...that woman who...hit him with the tray, spilled tea on his face, and tore his sleeve. He looked at her. Just then, she stepped at a wet spot on the floor and almost tripped. Luckily, the man quickly stood up and caught her. Hisana lifted her right leg and the man lifted his other hand. They were like tango dancers. Hisana smiled gratefully at the man who saved her from utter embarrassment. Oh, how lucky she was on that day. The people at the restaurant saw what happened and started clapping. hisana smiled. She was sooo...happy._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.  
_

Hisana smiled shyly to herself, remembering clearly what had happened. She bit her finger and blushed. Just then, she noticed Rukia's face close to hers. And...that was not good. Rukia was frowning at her. "What is it that I see on your face?," her raven-haired daughter said, using that stern voice of hers.

Hisana's eyes grew wide and she started wiping her face, as if there was dirt. "What? What is it?"

Rukia narrowed her eyes again. "Not since dad died have I seen that kind of expression."

Hisana looked at her guiltily and gave her goo-goo eyes. "I'm sorry..."

"You should've gotten yourself a good man before now!!," Rukia said, smiling, finally, taking a deep breath.

Hisana lifted her head slowly, analyzing what her daughter just said. A huge smile broke through her face as she clasped Rukia's hands with hers. _She understands after all_..."What...you...you're not...mad? You're not against it??," Hisana asked.

Rukia looked straight into her mother's eyes. "If he's as good as you say, why would I be? I'll back you 100%."

Hisana's mouth formed a wide smile as she stood up and raised her hands up in the air. "AHHHHH!!," she squealed happily. She started jumping and clapping her hands. She was just so thankful to God for giving her such an understanding daughter. "Then..."

Rukia narrowed her eyes again. "What now?"

Hisana looked at her with puppy eyes. "Can I go out tonight?"

Rukia frowned. "If I said no..."

Hisana's eyes grew wide again. Oh, please...

Suddenly, Rukia grinned and yelled, "Wouldn't I be a bad daughter??"

Hisana laughed at her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. What a funny, funny daughter she had. When she pulled back, Rukia smiled widely at her and said, "Enjoy your date!! Dress sexy and seduce him!!"

Hisana nodded happily and smiled again at her daughter. With that, she walked excitedly back home. Rukia stared at her, smiling. "I never realized...mom was dating again. Not since dad died have I seen her so happy...," she thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

The next morning, Rukia went to school happily. She still remembered what had happened the night before and that was what kept her in a good mood. She picked her stuff from her locker and turned to go to her first-period classroom, when suddenly...

"Hey!!," a voice called from behind.

Rukia gasped and turned around. The peaceful silence she had was shattered. It was that orange-haired guy again. The "Ichigo" guy whom..she had _accidentally_ confessed to. Rukia looked at him strangely. What did he want form her? They didn't even know each other.

"I have," Ichigo said, pulling something out of his pocket. Rukia gasped at the sight. "Your letter," he continued, smirking at her. Rukia didn't know why, but his smile sent chills down her spine. She knew that smile. That evil, devilish smile. He was the only one she knew who smiled at her like that.

Rukia turned away from him and took a deep breath. Then, she put on a huge smile on her face as she approached the smirking guy in front of her.

When she was in front of him, she reached out to get the letter, but Ichigo hid his hand away. "Why thank me?"

Rukia slowly looked up at him. What? Wasn't he gonna give it back to her? "Don't be stupid. I didn't come here just to return this stupid letter," he said, smirking at her again.

Just then, he grew serious. Rukia trembled. "I order you, from now on...be mine. Be my slave," he said in a such a clod tone of voice. But Rukia tried to remain calm. She raised her head higher and looked straight into his eyes. "That's a lame joke. Return my letter."

Ichigo just grinned at her devilishly. "Return it? I don't think you grasp the situation. If I were..to make copies of the letter...a thousand copies, for example, and drop them from the roof...what do you think would happen?."

Rukia lowered her head. Oh no...he was blackmailing her. She began imagining herself staring up at the roof and a pile of papers falling down upon her. That would definitely be terrible...

* * *

**Done, done, done! Yay! What do you think would happen next?**

**Anyway, stay tuned for more IchiRuki!!! Yahoo!**

**And don't forget to review!!!! Hahaha!Ü**


	4. Confident

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach or Devil Beside You...

**A/N: The guy with goggles in his head is a character that I've made up. His name is Yoji Takamura, who portrays the character of Yang Ping. The guy with dark brown hair is Keigo. The tall one is...you've guessed it...Chad. And the one with dark blue hair is Mizuiro.**

* * *

Rukia began trembling at the thought. She's sure people would definitely make fun of her. And Renji...he's gonna get into the mess too. But she just can run away from this guy. If she did, she's gonna have to face the humiliation, but if she doesn't...well...what can be more worse?

"I'm a freshman majoring practical arts. You don't have to call me 'master,' call me 'ichigo,'" he said.

Rukia knew it was foolish. But then again, what can be more worse?

She kept on trembling. So this was the group of guys Inoue was talking about. The group of guys who were more like gangsters. The group who got arrested at times. And they did look pretty scary too. Rukia just kept her head down. She was feeling very awkward...to have those guys surround her, stare at her. But what can she do? There are five guys. She's all alone now. As she felt them move closer to her, she lowered her head again. They all examined her as if she was some endangered and undiscovered species.

"Ichigo, who's the girl?," asked the guy with goggles in his head.

"Yeah, where'd you pick her up?," asked another guy with dark brown hair.

"Why is she trembling?," asked the tall one.

Ichigo, who was sitting at the desk in front of them, said, "She's Rukia. Anything I say, she will do."

"Anything? Cool," said the one with dark blue hair.

"Can I see your underwear,?" asked the brown-haired one. Rukia flinched at the question. She wanted to punch these guys one by one. They were so perverted. She didn't know why, but she was kinda scared of them.

Suddenly, the guy with goggles placed his hand on the brown-haired one's neck. "Manners?," he said sternly. Then he turned to Rukia and said, "Ignore him. I'm Yoji Takamura. I won't harm you. I'm a nice guy, so...let me kiss you."

Rukia's heart beat faster. Was that guy really gonna kiss her? She looked at him with trembling, frightened eyes. His face was inching closer and closer until...

A hand came in contact with Yoji's mouth as he was pushed away and so were the other guys. Ichigo glared and pulled Rukia closer to his chest. "Move aside! Don't you get it? She's mine exclusively!! She'll listen only to me.."

The other guys stood up slowly and Rukia was more relieved. Thank goodness...

Just then, she felt Ichigo's breath on her face. "Right?," he whispered in a deep voice. Rukia began trembling again. "Obey...or I'll reveal the letter," he said, smirking.

Rukia nodded quickly. "Yes!! I'm your most loyal servant!!"

Ichigo smirked again and let go of her. Rukia fell down and whined, "Mama!!"

* * *

Being Ichigo's slave was harder than Rukia thought. During class, Ichigo got hungry so he ordered her to get some food for her.

"I want beer, chips, cookies, doughnuts, chocolates, sandwiches, and cola...oh! and anything else you want to buy," was Ichigo's order.

As Rukia carried the bags which conatined Ichigo's foods, she frowned. Now what? Because of this annoying guy, she didn't get to attend Math class. And she had to cope up with the lesson too. What an annoying strawberry. Rukia laughed at the thought. Now was the only time she realized that his name actually meant strawberry.

As she walked down the hallway, carrying the bags, a hand pulled her hair and dropped her onto the staircase. Rukia dropped the bags and looked up to see who had done that. It was a tall girl with dark purple, spiky hair. Rukia glared at her and said, "What was the big idea??,"

The girl just frowned at her and said, "If you want to be Prince's toy, that would be worthless. He'll tire of you soon."

Rukia stood up and started to pick up the bags. "Who's prince? And who are you? I don't even know you." She bent down and continued to pick up the bags. But the girl pulled her hair again, causing rukia to whine. "Ow...what do you want?"

"Listen you! If you don't stay away from him, you're gonna regret it!!"

Just then, Renji saw the two girls and tried to stop them. "Hey, what are you two doing there?"

At the sight of him, the girl who was rulling rukia's hair let her go and walked away, huffing.

"Are you alright?," Renji asked rukia.

Rukia just nodded and went back to picking up the bags. Renji helped her and Rukia thanked him. Before Rukia wakked away, Renji said, "You know, if you don't really want to obey him, you just have to say so."

Rukia smiled at him. She was glad that she actually had someone who cared for her. _Now, I'll be more confident..._

* * *

Angrily, Rukia dropped the bags at Ichigo's foot as she tried to catch her breath. She looked up at him angrily and said, "I've decided...that I'm gonna confess my love to him...so you won't blackmail me anymore..."

Ichigo didn't even look up at her. "Sure you can do it?"

Rukia pouted and said, "I can!! So there's no use blackmailing me!!"

Ichigo ignored her and picked up some of the food. Rukia stared in disbelief. _I can't back down..._

Rukia was surprised when Ichigo suddenly yelled, "Hey!! Why are all of my custards broken!! You ruined my afternoon tea as well!!"

She folded her arms acrosss her chest and said, "I don't care!! You can't order me around anymore!!," she yelled back at him. As she started to walk away, Yoji blocked her and said, "Rukia, you're awfully confident."

Rukia pushed him angrily and said, "Get out of my way!!"

Ichigo just glared back at her.

&

XD!! Whoopee!! Yay...what will happen next??


	5. finally

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Devil Beside You...

**A/N: Oh, thank you so much to the reviewers!! You people always lighten up my day!! Really, thank you so much!! Thank you also for the suggestions!! Actually, I thought about that Renji's part belonging to Kaien. I think it would be interesting too, but then I thought again...I think Kaien's part should be the teacher whom Rukia fell in love with back when she was in high school, right? What do you guys think? And also, about ahmon's little brother...well, why don't we use Hitsugaya? I know, I sound pretty silly, but I'm still thinking about it. What do you guys think? Tell me, pwease!!**

* * *

Rukia walked angrily across the meadow, pissed of at Ichigo. She saw that purple-haired girl who had pulled her hair earlier but she didn't care. All she could think of was that dumb, old sissy who likes to blackmail innocent people. How could he be so cruel?? Doesn't he even have a heart?

Tatsuki, who was walking across the meadow looked back at Rukia, wondering what had happened to her and why she was so pouty. She decided to ignore her and continued walking towards Ichigo. She flashed him a big smile. Ichigo just kept on eating his custards with a glare as if he wanted to crush it instead of to eat it.

"Hey, Ichigo!! Look, I've brought some homemade cookies!! Have some!! They're really delicious," she said, handing him a bag of chocolate cookies with heart-shaped thingies on them.

Ichigo just nodded. Just then, Tatsuki noticed what he was eating."you're eating those? They're all broken!," she exclaimed.

"Hey, Ichigo! Why are you so pissed?," Yoji interrupted.

Ichigo glared at him again. "Shut up!" Yoji decided to remain silent. As Ichigo took one last look at the broken custards he was eating, he got more pissed than ever. With a killer look in his eyes, he slammed the custards onto the ground and angrily walked away. Tatsuki looked after him, wondering what in the world was happening. Yoji walked over to Tatsuki and smiled at her. "Don't worry, Tatsuki. Ichigo's just in a bad mood. He'll calm down soon.."

Ichigo could feel the anger boiling inside him. That girl's really got the nerve...

The next morning, Rukia walked slowly to school, feeling a little nervous. "Hope nothing goes wrong this time, " she whispered quietly to herself. "god, please let my confession be a 100 success!!"

AS she walked quietly down the hallway, she turned around and saw...Renji. Rukia's heart beat faster and she didn't know what to do anymore. Gathering up more courage, she walked up to him bravely and called his name, "Renji..."

When Rukia looked up to see his eyes, she gasped. It wasn't Renji after all. Rukia stared at the guy with embarrassment. "Sorry, I thought you were someone I knew, " she said as she walked away.

Just then, she saw the real Renji walking towards her. Now, her heart didn't just beat faster. It raced like mad around her chest. Rukia thought she was going to faint from that very minute. She took a deep breath as she waited for him to get near her. _This is it, Rukia...this is it!!_

When he was already in front of her, Rukia closed her eyes and said, "Renji."

Renji was surprised and he immediately turned to look at her. "Hi, Rukia. Why?"

Rukia looked at him straight in the eyes. This was harder than she thought. Her eyes were teary and she was beginning to sweat from the nervousness. "Renji, I...I...I've l-liked you...for a long t-time!!," she confessed, her eyes closed shut and her cheeks as red as an apple.

_Oh no...what an idiot I am...what if Renji rejects me?? How will I be able to...to...even forget about his? Oh, darn it, Rukia!! Why did you have to be so darn stupid?_

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She slowly looked up at Renji. What does this mean? Was she gonna get the answer she has always wanted to hear? Or would she have to brace herself for the words that she had feared the most?

"Rukia, I like you too."

For a moment, the world around Rukia seemed to revolve around her. Was she hearing the right thing? Or was she just out of her mind? When she took a look at Renji's eyes, she began to smile. It was true. This was no daydream...it's the real thing...She closed her eyes and ran into his arms. Renji smoothed her hair and as he wrapped her arms around her too. Finally, they were together...

As the two of them walked together happily but a little uneasy, they began to talk about each other, and about other stuff. Rukia couldn't help but smile. She still couldn't believe Renji was finally her boyfriend. She smiled to herself once again. She knew she just had to be brave. Just then, the two of them passed by a crowd. Wanting to know what the commotion was all about, Rukia pushed through.

"Oh, look!! It's the famous loveteam of the year!!," cooed one of the boys, smirking at Rukia. Rukia stared at him strangely. What is that guy talking about? Rukia suddenly bumped into a wall. Her eyes darted onto the group of papers posted on it. She gasped. Oh no...

Rukia's mind began to panic as she angrily pulled the papers down. That stupid Ichigo again!! Why did he have to ruin her life? Rukia was so embarrassed. She didn't know what to do anymore. She ran away with a frightened face.

Renji looked at her worriedly as he pulled down the last group of papers. the crowd kept on cooing at them, but Renji didn't care. Whoever did this...he sure must be a heartless devil.

He ran after her, but she wasn't in sight. Renji soon spotted her friends, Inoue and Momo. He dashed by them. Inoue and Momo went after him. "Renji!! Wait up!! What's wrong?," Momo asked.

"There's a big trouble!! We've gotta find Rukia!! Now!!"

"But we need to know!! What exactly happened?," Inoue asked.

"It's like this..."

* * *

Inoue nodded. So it was "That" after all. No wonder Renji was really in a panic. Inoue smiled at him and pulled out her cellphone. "Hello, Rukia? Please come here at the entrance of the library. We're meeting you here, okay?"

"Inoue, I-I can't..."

"I don't care. Come here now." And with a wide smile on her face, Inoue hung up the phone. She turned to Renji and gave him a playful punch in the arm. "It's up to you now!!"

Rukia walked around the entrance. Where was Inoue and Momo? Geez, those two are really naughty. She walked around slowly. Now, she just wanted to cry. She hated herself for being such an idiot. How could she get into this this mess and not get out of it? She wanted to scream her lungs out. Because of this, even the person she loves would get into this mess too.

"Rukia..."

Rukia immediately turned around to see Renji. Suddenly, her tears began to fall and she lowered her head. REnji walked towards her. "Sorry, Renji...I-I didn't want you to get into this... Forgive me...I'm so embarrassed.."

Renji took out his handkerchief and started wiping Rukia's tears. "Rukia, look. That letter doesn't bother me. But when you cry, I don't know what to do...There are people in this world who try to hurt you...but there are also people who get hurt because you're hurt."

Renji leaned closer to Rukia's face. She closed her eyes as Renji leaned closer. Before their lips met, the school bell rang. Renji's eyes grew wide and he immediately pulled away. Rukia's eyes slipped open too. "Uh...I have to go to class, "Renji said as he ran quickly. Renji didn't know why...he clutched the handkerchief in his hands as he quickly ran back to Rukia. All of a sudden, he opened her palm and placed the handkerchief in it. And with that, he ran off.

Rukia slowly looked up. She clutched the handkerchief in her hands and smiled. "I'm feeling more confident...from now on...i'll do my best to get rid of that devil!!"

That evening, Rukia had a date with her mom, Hisana. The two of them sat together on a coffee shop. As Hisana brought their orders with her, she smiled brightly. Rukia rested her chin on her hands and said, "Mom, you're too much. Last time, boss lady said you were depressed. Now you're as chipper as a bird. You should show some restraint. "

Hisana stared at her dreamily. "I can't help myself!! It's a turning point from black and white to brilliant colors!!," she exclaimed.

Rukia stared back at her dreamily. "I understand. It's like eating the sweetest doughnut and having a propeller on my head and flying throgh the clouds. It feels like someone's pulling my lips up with a string! I can't help but smile!!"

"You got it! I didn't think he'd ask so soon..."

"Please give me your blessing, " they said in unison.

"I'm getting married!"

"I'm dating!"

"What'd you say?," they asked in unison.


	6. Trying to Get close

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. I also don't own Devil Beside You.

* * *

"Getting married? That's a major life event!! Besides, you haven't been dating long," Rukia said. The news had shocked her and now, she didn't know what to do! She folded her arms across her chest and frowned.

Hisana, who was sitting at the dinner table, fiddled with her fingers uneasily and said, "Well, I though you were too young to date."

Rukia's eyes grew wide and Hisana squealed. "Actually, it's okay...I was dating at your age..."

Rukia narrowed her eyes and tapped her hands onto the table. "Back to the subject!!"

Hisana twiddled her hair in her thumb. "Well, he proposed...and...well..."

Rukia couldn't take this anymore. It was definitely driving her crazy. "What? Oh mom, him proposing shouldn't make your head go haywire!! And I haven't even met him yet!!"

Hisana smiled at her. Rukia stared at her mom strangely. Hisana's mouth looked like it was gonna rip off any minute. "Oh! Well, he has always wanted to meet you! He even wanted to come today, but something came up. In a few days, he'll come to see you at school."

Rukia pouted her lips. "He's weird. Why come to my school?," she asked.

Hisana covered her mouth with her hands and Rukia rolled her eyes. "Oh! My mistake," Hisana squealed, "I forgot to tell you...he is your school president!"

"If he's not coming today, then why are we having a party?," Rukia whined.

Suddenly, Hisana remembered that she had to be more superior. "I haven't even asked you! Who are you dating? Huh!? huh!?"

Rukia's wide eyes began to close and she lowered her head. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Hisana broke into a smile. She excitedly ran to the door. "He's here!!"

Rukia sighed and scratched her head. "School president? Something's not quite right..." Suddenly, Inoue's words came flooding into her mind.

_"Rukia, that guy was Ichigo Kurosaki, the son of the school's president. He's known as the Prince Of Seduction. He's quite scary too. No one can get in his way. He bullies peple who do so. And also, he has power over the teachers since he's the school's president's son. You really should be miserable.."_

Her eyes grew so wide that they looked like they were gonna bulge off any minute. She ran after her mom and yelled, "NO MOM!!"

But it was too late. Her mom had opened the door and there...stood the orange-headed guy, Ichigo Kurosaki. Hisana smiled at their visitor. "Rukia, meet the son of the man I'm marrying. his name is Ichigo. You'll be stepsiblings so you should get along."

"Nice to meet you, big sister," Ichigo said, giving her that **DEVILISH **smirk. Rukia felt her legs grow weaker. Not only was her mom marrying a guy she hadn't even met, but she'll get to be stepsiblings with the person she hated the most. She considered herself totally unlucky. And she wished, that, if this was a dream, she wanted to wake up more than anything. This wasn't a dream anymore...but a nightmare.

* * *

Rukia, Hisana, and Ichigo sat together at dinner table. Hisana smiled sweetly at Ichigo, then turned back to Rukia. "He's the one who suggested this party. Such a sweet child."

Rukia pouted. She hated that guy so much. And "sweet" definitely wasn't in her list of descriptions for him. She stood up and walked over to Ichigo. "Mom, don't you what kind of person he is? How bad he is?"

Ichigo carefully picked some lettuce with his chopsticks, but Rukia abruptly stopped him. "Don't touch that! Did we say you could eat? You have no manners!" Suddenly, Rukia heard her mom sniff. She immediately wrapped her shoulders around her. "Oh mom.."

"You really can't accept anyone but your father!," Hisana wailed, blowing her nose into Rukia's sleeve. Rukia scrunched up her face, but ignored it anyway. She shook head, but Hisana cut her off. "When you said I could date, you just didn't want to disappoint me, but you really didn't want me to!!"

Rukia shook her head and said, "No, it's not like that!!"

"You think I'd really betray your dad. You didn't think I'd really remarry!!"

Suddenly, Ichigo lowered his head and pretended to look sad. "Auntie, don't blame yourself...it's my fault."

"Ichigo-kun..I"m sorry to have hurt you like this..."

"I thought I could've had a complete family...," Ichigo said, pretending to act disappointed.

"I thought we could've had a complete family too!!," Hisana wailed. Then she took his hand in hers and said, "I really want to take care of you like my own son."

Ichigo smiled at Hisana. "Auntie...that makes me so happy. I am touched. There's nothing else I wanted.."

Hisana walied again. "Sorry Ichigo! If Rukia doesn't agree, I may have to disappoint you and your father!! Sorry.."

Rukia lowered her head.

"Ichigo? Your stepbrother?," Inoue asked, not quite believing the whole news. Momo looked at Rukia sympathetically. "Well, look on the bright side, Rukia. At least you've got a new family."

Rukia shook her head. "I guess you're right..but I'll never forgive that Ichigo for pretending he wants to be part of out family."

Suddenly, Inoue and Momo saw Renji coming. They smiled. "Oh, rukia...," Inoue said in a singsong voice. The two of them quietly stepped aside as Rukia gently lifted up her head. When she saw Renji, she smiled and went after him. He dashed past her, but rukia still followed him. _Why isn't Renji turning to face me? Didn't he even notice me?_

Suddenly, Renji stopped. Rukia smiled. _Turn your head and face me, please, Renji.._

REnji turned around and Rukia's smile grew even wider. _Good thing I still have you in my crummy life..._

* * *

Rukia walked slowly to the school. She was still angry at Ichigo and she could never forget the day he ruined her life. As if he came out her mind, Ichigo appeared in front of her, riding a motorcycle.

"Hey there."

Rukia glared at him. "What are you doing here?"

Ichigo smirked. "Look, you can just tell your mom you don't want her to remarry."

Rukia lowered her head. "It's fine with me...I don't care about it. Just as long as my mom is happy, It'll be okay with me. Even if I have to put up with you, Ichigo." With that, she left. Ichigo looked after her. _She's really different..._

AS Rukia happily walked down the corridor, she took out Renji's handkerchief and smiled to herself. She wanted to give it back to him this morning. Suddenly, as she turned down the corridor, she bumped into Renji.

"Oh, hi, Renji! Um, I was going to return this to you," she said, holding up the handkerchief. Renji smiled at her. "Huh? You didn't have to return it so soon." Rukia smiled at him and put the handkerchief back in her pocket. When she saw Renji's armful of books, she immediately offered to help him with it. But instead of helping him carry them, she made the books tumble down. She smiled apologetically and said, "I'll pick them up!"

Renji bent down beside her. "I'll help you!" As they carefully picked up the books, Renji's face grew closer to rukia's. she gently lifted up her head and blushed. _What is...this feeling..._

_"_Why do I feel something really, really strange?," Renji asked.

"Yeah, like...when the evil spirits are around you?"

Renji nodded. Renji and Rukia turned to look around andsuddenly,there was Ichigo sitting between them. Rukia shrieked and Renji gasped. "Stop scaring us like that!!," she yelled.

Ichigo smirked at her and turned to Renji. "hi there! I'm Ichigo and Rukia's my sister. I heard you were a very responsible student and honest too! You're good at home economics, aren't you?"

Rukia glared and pulled Renji aside. "He's manipulating you! Don't believe a word he says!"

"Manipulating me?"

"Uh-huh!!"

Ichigo pushed Rukia away and said, "Actually my sister told me all that."

Rukia's eyes grew wide. Why that orange-headed...She smiled and turned to the two boys. "Actually, my brother is a great person!!," she said, batting her eyelashes. Renji smiled at her. "So would you like to play basketball with me?," he asked, turning to Ichigo. "Sure! How bout after lunch?"

Renji agreed. He swore pinkies with Ichigo and turned to Rukia, who was sitting on the floor and looking as if her life just ended. "You're brother's a nice guy...wouldn't be bad to be his friend."

Rukia lowered her head. "I guess so..."

* * *

Rukia dashed across the school yard to where Ichigo, and his guys were eating lunch. She spotted Ichigo, whose head was under a book, and immediately snatched the book away. Ichigo opened one eye.

"So you're trying to get close to Renji now!," she pointed out. Ichigo sat up and said, "What are you talking about? No matter how you look at it, I'm just a sunny guy playing basketball."

Rukia glared at him and said, "You're not 'sunny' at all."

Ichigo smirked. "Thanks."

Mizuiro finally spoke up and said, "Rukia-chan, why are you still alive?"

"You're all alive! why can't I be alive?," she said, glaring.

Keigo smiled. "But you definitely hit Prince, so why are you still okay?"

From across Keigo and Mizuiro, Yoji spoke up. "It is illogical. Normally 2 or 3 of your bones would be broken by now."

"Because when there's revenge needed to be taken, Ichigo returns it a hundredfold," spoke up Chad.

Rukia finally understood Ichigo's scheme. _That orange-headed idiot...he must be trying to get close to Renji so he could take his revenge on me..._

Ichigo carefully stood up. "Yoji, after lunch, gather the brothers in the gym." With a smirk in his face, he turned and left. Yoji nodded and said, "Kay!"

Rukia looked at them strangely. What are these guys up to now?

* * *

UGHHHH...I'm kinda bored with it!! Waaaaaaaaaaaah!! But, well...at least something happened...Please review!! I love all of you!!


	7. His Dad, My Dad

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach nor Devil Beside You

**Thanks to all my reviewers!! And to those who favorite! Love you all! And I hope you enjoy this one!!**

* * *

After lunch, Ichigo, along with his boys, were gathered ion the gym. There was a basketball game coming up. A few minutes later, the basketball team was there and the game was a bout to begin. The two teams stood on either side of the court, ready and prepared. The referee stood in the middle, whistle placed at his mouth. Rukia and her friends stood at the bleachers, watching intently. When the whistle blew, the referee immediately threw the ball. Renji and Ichigo looked at it closely. Ichigo leaped and managed to snatch the ball.

At last, the game started. Renji and the other players ran towards the other side and blocked Ichigo's teammates. Before Renji could even touch him, Ichigo jumped and tossed the ball to the ring. It was a perfect shot. Rukia cleared her throat and started to yell. "Renji! Go!"

On the first half, the ball mostly went to Ichigo and his teammates. Rukia scrunched up her nose. "At this rate, Renji will lose..."

Inoue checked her watch and said, "Five seconds left."

"Renji! Go!!," Rukia yelled again, this time more loudly. Renji heard her and smiled at her. Rukia smiled back. Suddenly, the referee blew his whistle and the players stopped running. Ichigo let go of the ball. Renji took a deep breath and said, "Why are you so serious? I thought it was only a game."

Ichigo smirked devilishly and said, "Yeah, but there's one thing I want...I want to win."

Renji nodded and grinned. "Me too."

At the second half of the game, Renji and his team could barely hang on. Ichigo's team was ahead by 10 points. Renji was losing hope. At the last ten seconds, Ichigo has the ball. Then, Five. Four. Three. Two. One. The ball missed the ring. The referee blew the whistle. As the rest of the teams scampered away, Ichigo and Renji remained.

"We lost," Renji said, "but you guys were pretty good. Would you like to join the team?"

Ichigo thought for a moment. Then he smirked again. "Sure. If she'll get to be team manager," he said, pointing to Rukia. Rukia's eyes grew wide as she pointed to herself. "M-me?"

Renji looked up at her. "Actually, we might need a manager. The last one just quit and we couldn't find any replacement so you could be the manager, Rukia. But it's hard work. Would that be alright with you?"

Rukia beamed. "Yes! No problem at all!!"

Ichigo turned to Renji. "So it's settled then!"

* * *

Being manager wasn't really fun as Rukia thought it would be. In fact, it was horrible. Ichigo ordered her this and that. She was more like a slave than a manager. Every minute Ichigo would call out to her and ask for juice or water or towels and even a massage! What kind of manager massages?

After the basketball practice, Rukia sat on the bleachers, feeling very tired. Inoue and Momo came by. "You're so lucky, Rukia! You get to hang out with the team captain!!," cried Inoue.

Rukia threw her hands up in the air. "Think that's possible with that devil around? It's always Rukia-this, and Rukia-that."

Momo smiled. "Rukia, as team manager, you should be more vigilant, you know." She took a look at Ichigo and sighed. "You should know what to expect too. Know what? He played basketball in high school. And because he beat up the coach. He got kicked off the team."

Rukia's eyes grew wide. "He beat up the coach too?"

Momo and Inoue nodded. "Because his family had money, it was swept under the dust."

"That's not true," said a voice behind them. They turned to see Yoji, who was sitting behind them with his hands behind his head. Rukia narrowed her eyes and asked, "What do you mean?"

"At high school, there was a fatso. He was a part of the team but he never did anything. He was already a member for two years and he hadn't even touched the ball. Then one day, the coach said to him, 'you lard ass! You're not good for anything at all!' It was then...that Ichigo got mad. He beat up the coach. Because of that, Ichigo was kicked off the team. He didn't have to do anything, but he got so angry like he was the one being insulted." Yoji turned to face Rukia. "That lard ass was me."

Rukia's eyes grew wide. Renji took out his high school ID out of his pocket and showed it to the three girls. Momo and Inoue smiled. They thought he was cute. Rukia looked at the ID carefully. Yoji continued, "Strange maybe, but...we're not with him because he's the president's son. We really respect him."

_So I must've been wrong. I judged him too quickly, _Rukia thought. Suddenly, she heard Ichigo call her name. she immediately said goodbye to the others and went over to him. Ichigo said, "Buy me fruit, beer, beverage, chicken, ramen, coke, and sprite. Got it? Hurry up!"

With each word, rukia nodded, indicating that she understood.

As she carried the armful of food to where Ichigo was, she frowned. "What's with him? I'm the manager, why does he get to order me around? Buying this, buying that, there's nothing here I like. Even if Yoji says a 100 good things about you, I think you're still a jerk!"

She was surprised when a tall figure blocked her way. The figure dragged her away near the staircase and dropped her like a piece of trash. Rukia glared at the woman. "It's you again! What do you want with me?"

Tatsuki folded her arms across her chest and said, "Why are you still hanging around Prince? Didn't I return the love letter to you? What's your excuse now? Why are you still clinging onto Prince?"

Rukia slowly sat up. "Love letter?"

Tatsuki was getting pissed off. "The one you wrote to the basketball captain! I even posted it on the bulletin board for you! I thought it'd help you, but why are you still hanging around Prince?"

Rukia instantly remembered that day. That awful day when she was humiliated in front of the whole school. _So Ichigo...Ichigo was innocent! _She looked up at Tatsuki with narrowed eyes. "You're pretty mean!," she yelled at her. Tatsuki smiled mischievously. "Really? You're wrong," she said, scooting down to Rukia's level, "Since we don't know each other pretty well, I'll let you know...I'm worse than you think."

Rukia glared at her again. "What do you want?"

Tatsuki looked at her two classmates, who were behind her. One of them, Chizuru, took out a rope and began tying Rukia's hands at her back. Rukia struggled, but her small physique made it only worse. "Let go!"

"Shut up!," Chizuru yelled. Tatsuki lit up a lighter. Rukia heard the scraping sound and she knew immediately what it was. She slowly lifted her head up and met Tatsuki's piercing gaze. Tatsuki smiled at her and said, "If I set your hair on fire, what do you think will happen?"

Rukia slowly backed away. Tatsuki could see that the small girl was frightened. She was slightly trembling. Tatsuki slowly walked towards her. Suddenly, Rukia could feel the railings at her back. There was no place to go. She was trapped! Just as Tatsuki's lighter reached her hair, she closed her eyes, bracing herself for what might happen. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a splash of water directly hit Tatsuki's face and the fir from the lighter was gone. Rukia opened her eyes, wide in shock.

They all turned to see who it was. It was the janitor. He smiled apologetically and said, "Sorry, sorry. I'm cleaning...what are you guys doing? Bullying your fellow student?" He looked at Tatsuki more closely. "What a beautiful girl. But when she's bullying, her face gets all scrunched up."

"Hey old man, it's none of your business!," Chizuru interrupted. The janitor's eyes grew wide. "Old man? I like pretty girls to call me uncle!"

"you're more like a pervert!," Chizuru retorted. Tatsuki turned to Rukia, eyes fuming with anger. "This is your last warning. You won't be so lucky next time!" And with that, the three girls left. Rukia stared at the ground. What was up with that girl anyway? And why was she so mean?

The janitor began to take off the rope that tied Rukia's hands together. Just as she was about to face him, the janitor wrapped her in his arms. Rukia's eyes grew wide and the janitor said, "you don't have to thank me! It's my job to protect you!!" Rukia grew scared. she closed her eyes and yelled, "Pervert! Somebody help me, please!!Help! Help!!"

Suddenly, a bucket came flying and hit the janitor square in the butt. The janitor smiled and turned to face the person who threw the bucket. It was Ichigo. He pointed his finger at the janitor and said, "What are you doing, old man?"

Instead of getting angry, the janitor smiled wider and ran to him, arms flailing. Then, he jumped at Ichigo and wrapped him in a bear hug. "Cutie! Cutie!," he cooed. Ichigo scowled. "what are you doing, old man! Don't touch me!!"

The janitor looked hurt. "Why are you so mean? I was only gone a few days."

Rukia gasped and said, "That must be...Ichigo's papa...!?"

The janitor, who was actually Ichigo's dad, Isshin, turned around. "Papa! You're already calling me papa!?" Isshin ran back to Rukia, arms flailing again. Rukia shrieked and Ichigo ran behind her. As Isshin ran towards her, she ducked and Isshin hugged Ichigo, who was behind her. Ichigo scowled again and said, "Stop harrassing people, okay?"

Isshin pulled back to see Ichigo, his son, instead of Rukia. she was actually underneath them. Isshin smiled sheepishly and said, "She's as cute as her mom! I can't help it!"

Isshin scooted down to face the cute girl and held out his hand in front of her. "Rukia, hello. I'll care for you like I care for your mom!"

* * *

**Review!! And I'll Update!!**


	8. Another confession?

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Devil Beside You

**Hey there!! Wow, I absolutely love updating!! I update almost everyday!! Hahahaha!! Well, keep reading!! And reviewing too!! Warning, Byakuya may be a little...not his character. I'm just gonna turn him into a nice person. So say goodbye to the icy, cold Byakuya who's so emotionless! He's a nice guy...for now.  
**

* * *

Ichigo hit Isshin with his fist. Isshin wailed. "I'm your dad! How could you do such a thing?"

"You're not my dad! You only _played _my dad once in a school play, you old man!," Ichigo yelled. Rukia wanted to laugh. So this wasn't her dad after all. Isshin stood up and smiled. "Okay then. I'm going back to work. See you guys!"

As soon as he left, a man in a black suit walked towards them. Ichigo looked at him, and so did Rukia. _Who's that guy?? He seems really nice, _she thought. The man held out his hand toward Rukia and smiled. "Hello, Rukia. I'm your stepdad, Byakuya."

Rukia's eyes grew wide. So this is her stepfather! She smiled back at him and shook his hand. He seemed really nice. "Hello. May I know your name?"

"I'm Byakuya Kurosaki. Ichigo was really happy to hear that he's gonna have a new sister," he said. Rukia nodded while Ichigo just rolled his eyes. Suddenly, another man in a black suit approached Byakuya. "President," the man said. Byakuya faced the man. "Yes?"

"We have been looking all over for you. You should hurry up. A meeting is going to be held at the auditorium."

Byakuya nodded, then turned to Rukia. "Well, I'll see you then!" Rukia waved at him as he left. Then she turned to Ichigo. "Your dad's really nice, Ichigo."

Ichigo just scowled at her. Then, Rukia looked into his eyes. "Ichigo, I'm...I'm sorry..." Ichigo looked at her. _Why is she apologizing?_

"You see, I thought you were the one who posted my letter on the bulletin board. And I've said really bad things to you. You have every right to be angry, Ichigo. So...I'll let you beat me up."

At the court, Renji was drinking water on his water bottle. Then, he noticed a piece of paper sticking out of his pocket. He took it out. It was a movie ticket. He wanted to ask Rukia on a date, but would she accept? Renji decided that, if he was going to ask her, it'd better be now.

"Yoji, where's the team manager?"

Yoji stopped running after the ball and said,"She went out to get drinks."

In a flash, Renji was out of the court. "I forgot to tell you! Ichigo already went after him!!," Yoji yelled at no one in particular. Renji was already gone.

* * *

As Rukia and Ichigo walked down the hallway, Ichigo asked Rukia, "So...are you sure you wanna do this?"

Rukia nodded. "If we don't do it now, I'll never forgive myself."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "Your teeth might get crushed..."

Rukia nodded. "Okay."

"Your face might get mangled."

"Okay."

Then, they both stopped in their tracks. "Okay then," Ichigo said. Rukia decided to close her eyes. She knew she was being silly for letting him beat her up, but she knew it was better than to feel guilty all the time. Ichigo slowly lifted up his fist. Rukia shut her eyes close. This is it...

Suddenly, Ichigo pulled her close and crashed her lips with his. And, as if he came out of nowhere, Renji was standing in front of them, shocked at what he was seeing. Rukia suddenly realized something. Why hadn't Ichigo beaten her up? Just then, she felt his lips against hers. _He's...kissing me!!_

She quickly pulled back and yelled, "Why did you do that??"

"Because...I want you," Ichigo said, matter-of-factly. Rukia shook her head fiercely. Ichigo continued, "Didn't you know? When I want something, I get it."

Rukia didn't know what to do. So she screamed. "Hey! Aren't you two siblings?," Renji, who was behind them, cried. Rukia was about to say yes, but Ichigo pulled her close to his chest. "Yes, we are. And soon, we're gonna become dangerous siblings. Sorry, Renji."

Renji just smiled good-naturedly. "Love is a personal choice. And don't apologize to me. It's not my business." And with that, he ran off. Rukia stared back at him, near tears. "Renji..." She wanted to run after him and tell him that it was all a misunderstanding. She loved Renji and she didn't want him to get hurt all because of this. But she had no hope. Renji was already gone.

"Such a cold response," Ichigo said, his arms still around Rukia, "how boring." Rukia gritted her teeth. "What are dangerous siblings!? He totally misunderstood!!"

"What's the big deal? It's the truth."

"What are you really thinking?," Rukia yelled.

"Do it again?," Ichigo replied. He stared into Rukia's eyes. Then, he slowly inched closer to her face. A tear slowly made its way down rukia's cheek as she returned Ichigo's stare. Just as he was about to kiss her again, she fled away from his grasp and ran off, leaving Ichigo with his head bowed down.

* * *

The bell rang. Students scampered off to their respective classrooms. As Rukia sat in her seat, she thought back on what happened. Inoue and Momo sneaked worried glances at her. They wanted to talk to Rukia; they were sure something was bothering her. Just then, Renji entered the classroom and took his seat. Rukia spotted him and a feeling of sadness immediately went over her. She stared at Renji again. _Turn around...turn around...If you'd just just turn around, I'd have the courage to apologize._

But to her dimay, Renji didn't bother to look her way. Rukia lowered her head. She could still remember Ichigo's words clearly. _"We'll become dangerous siblings."_

During basketball practice, Renji couldn't stop thinking about Rukia and Ichigo. The thought had bothered him so much. Meanwhile, Rukia was with Inoue and Momo. After what happened, she couldn't bear to see Ichigo nor Renji anymore.

"Are you sure you're really not coming to the basketball practice?," inoue asked. Rukia shook her head. "You're still team manager," Momo pointed out. Rukia sighed and said, "I'm not. You could just say I'm Ichigo's personal servant."

"That's not the main point," Inoue said, "what you need to do is explain everything to Renji. I'm sure he'll understand."

Rukia sighed hopelessly. "He must think that I'm easy...for giving him a love letter. And then kissing another guy."

"Yeah...very easy," Inoue agreed. "Hey! Why make things worse? Rukia already feels bad enough," Momo said, coming to her aid.

"No? If she never goes and explain it clearly, it'd serve her right to be called easy by everyone," Inoue said. Rukia lowered her head. but just then, she remembered what Renji said. _"Love is a personal choice. And don't apologize to me. It's not my business." _She sighed and said, "Forget it."

Inoue slumped her shoulders. "Are you sure? We're talking about Renji here." Rukia just lowered her head. Inoue shrugged. "okay then, is it okay if I go and confess my feelings to him?"

* * *

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! So what did YOU think? Review!!


	9. She's mine

Inoue walked down the hallway and to the basketball gym. She wasn't really going to confess to Renji. She was just going to talk to him; she wasn't going to let her best friend get hurt like that. As she enetered the gym, sure enough, Renji was there, staring up at the ceiling. She ran up to him.

"Hey Renji," she called, "you have to talk to Rukia."

Renji just sighed angily and turned to walk away. He wasn't going to listen to what she will say. As he walked, Inoue caught his sleeve. "Renji, please. Please think of how Rukia feels."

At the door of the gym, Rukia and momo stood, looking at Inoue and Renji. When he Renji spotted Rukia, he immediately scowled and turned on his back. "We...don't need a team manager who keeps on making absences. If you can't even support the team, you might as well quit."

Rukia lowered her head. She knew he was right. She was a useless manager. She wasn't even there to support them. She tried hard not to cry. Renji hadn't spoke to her in days and this was all he could say? Mean, harsh words?

"Renji, why are you acting like this?," Inoue said, "you weren't...you weren't like this before. You never said mean words to anybody...especially to the most important person to you..."

Momo was getting frustrated too. What kind of guy is he anyway? "Yeah, Renji!," she added,"you won't even give Rukia another chance! She was hurt too, you know!"

But Renji wasn't listening. He scowled and walked away. Inoue lowered her head. Now what? Poor Rukia will be hurt more than ever. As she turned to look at them, she sighed. "I'm so sorry, Rukia. I know you're probably thinking the same thing. Renji wasn't like that before. He was mostly the good guy...," she said.

"But..I guess people change," Momo agreed, putting her arm around Rukia. Rukia tried her best to smile. She was feeling awful, but she knew she was lucky to have friends like Momo and Inoue. "Thanks, you two. You're both awfully terrific!," she exclaimed.

But she knew...that deep inside, her pain was almost incurable.

* * *

Renji walked quickly. He was definitely confused; he didn't know how really feels. He knew he didn't really mean to say those things to Rukia. Half of him was nagging him to go back there and apologize, while the other half wanted him to break up with her and blame her for doing what she'd done.

_Are you sure you really want to break up with her just like that? You didn't even give her a chance. Her friend was right, you should go talk to her._

_But why? She kissed another guy in front of me...that's unforgivable! She doesn't deserve a second chance. And she hasn't even been there for the team. Just because she did something wrong, she hides out and hopes that everybody will soon forget about what she'd done. What kind of team manager is that?_

_But Rukia loved you, didn't she? And you don't even know what really happened! Did she kiss that guy, or was she kissed by that guy? You know Ichigo, Renji. Ichigo would always do anything just to get what he wants._

Thoughts battled in his mind as he walked. He couldn't make up his mind. He felt like his head was going to explode any minute. As he walked down the pavement, he heard a voice.

"RENJI!!"

Renji turned around. It was Inoue. She ran towards him and when she finally reached him, she was already out of breath. Renji stared at her and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Inoue caught her breath. "Renji please...you have to talk to Rukia. I know you still love her, right? you're not really mean and I'm sure you hadn't meant to say those mean words."

Renji lowered his head. Now he knew...he had to obey that half of him. The half that wanted to apologize to Rukia and forgive her. He sighed.

"Please, Renji...Rukia really loves you, you know. i'm sure of that. And if you don't want to make up with her, I'm sure she'll be really lonely. So please..."

Renji closed his eyes. Then he opened them. "Thank you, Inoue...um...do you know where I can find her?"

Inoue beamed. Yes! Renji and Rukia are finally going to get together! "Yes!! She just went out. I'm sure she's on her way to the park."

Renji smiled back. "Thank you so much, Inoue...well, I gotta go now!"

As he ran towards the park, he couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Rukia walked slowly. She felt really weak; she felt so awful and she could feel butterflies forming in her stomach. She couldn't even think of happy thoughts. She tried thinking of Christmas. Doesn't work. She tried to think of Chappy. Doesn't work either. Now, she was sure all she need to do was to cry. But she can't cry now. If she did, many people would see her and that would be more awful. She decided to sigh. _Renji won't talk to me...am I really a useless person? I guess...sometimes people really change. Momo and Inoue were right. And...I guess sometimes you really have to separate with the one you love..._

"Rukia!!"

_That's really strange...why can I still hear his voice?? Well, maybe I just miss him..._

She was startled when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She slowly turned around and looked up. It was Renji. _Why am I even seeing him?_

Suddenly, a thought struck her like a boulder. _Are you nuts!! That IS Renji!! _"Renji?"

Renji was trying to catch his breath. "Rukia...look...I'm...i'm sorry.I shouldn't have said those things to you. Will you...will you forgive me?"

Rukia finally smiled. For the first time in that day, she finally smiled. "I should be sorry too, Renji. I shouldn't have let Ichigo do that...I should've been more careful. I'm sorry if I hurt you," she said.

"Rukia...will you...will you go to the movies with me?," Renji asked, his eyes searching Rukia's. Rukia beamed. "Sure!!," she replied. She was definitely coming. Awhile ago, she had the worst feeling ever, but now, everything seemed back to normal. She felt like she was eating the sweetest doughnut again. Not only that...she felt like she was surrounded in a pool of ice cream and chappy bunnies were around her. As they walked past the park and towards her house, she smiled. Love was definitely the best feeling ever.

* * *

Ichigo looked at the place. Ladders, light bulbs, and other pieces of different tools were scattered on every side of the room. Ichigo nodded at one of the workers. "Good job," he commented without even smiling. The worker smiled back at him though and thanked him again for letting their band use the stage for that night. Now, the only thing that the band had to worry about was fixing up the place.

Ichigo sat down on a lawn chair and sighed. He'd been really tired today. As he looked around, he couldn't help but remember what happened earlier...

He could still see her face, her teary, amethyst eyes...and her expression. She was hurt. There was no doubt about that. He sighed. He was feeling angry, confused...and...guilty at the same time. But what he kept telling himself was, "_Why am I feeling angry about this? It's not as if I'm jealous about them or anything," _he thought, scowling. The truth was that he wanted to apologize for what he did, but his prideful self took him over at that moment.

Yoji, who was busily wiping the floor of the stage, looked over at Ichigo. Why was he so serious anyway? Then...a familiar thought had struck him. It must've had something to do with that Rukia.

He placed the rug that he was holding down and took a bottle of beer. Then, he walked over to Keigo, who was swiftly brushing some of the microphones that were going to be used that evening for the band's concert. He handed Keigo the beer. "Hey Yoji...you know, I've never seen Ichigo so serious before...," Keigo said.

Yoji said, "It's because he's friends with the band. He even let them use the stage for practice. He coolly said, 'If we don't use it now, when will we ever use it?'"

Keigo looked at Yoji unbelievably. "That's awesome."

"That's Ichigo."

Rukia stared out the window. She couldn't help but feel nervous about their date. Would she end up doing something stupid? Would she feel dizzy? Would she say something meaningless? Thoughts were beginning to run in her head. Suddenly, she heard her alarm clock ringing. Oh no, it was already time for her to change! She darted across the room and took out the neatly ironed blouse that hung in her dresser. With a dreamy sigh, she laid on her bed. She knew this was definitely unlik her, but she just couldn't help it.

_If you look at my life, the worst, worst, awful, lousy, and lousiest thing that ever happened to me was being kissed by Ichigo...Absolute worst, worst thing ever!! But today I'm going out with Renji...Rukia, be on your best behavior..._

"But I'm really really nervous!!," she shouted.

Renji rubbed his hand together. It was awfully cold. But he felt excited. This was _their _first date together and he would do anything so it would go well. Suddenly, on the corner of his eye, he saw Ichigo. He knew he would only bring trouble abyway, so what was he doing here? Renji turned to look on the other side to avoid his gaze. He was startled when a sudden, swift person dashed past him.

Ichigo carefully, but swiftly lifted the bird that was stuck on a box. With a strong, forceful blow, he pushed the box away. The box, with a bunch of firecrackers inside it, blew off. Renji immediately ran over to him, surprised at what happened.

"What happened," he asked worriedly.

Ichigo, whose hands were already bleeding, remained calm. "A brat must've done it," he answered, letting the bird fly freely. Renji stared at his hand. It was bleeding and swollen. "But..you wounded your hand."

"Doesn't matter," he replied coolly. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm here for the concert."

Ichigo smirked. "I didn't know you, an athletic, studious, responsible guy would be interested in a heavy metal rock concert."

Renji sighed. "And I thought...after what you did, you wouldn't feel sorry at all. Especially about your sister."

"That's right, that's right," Ichigo answered, smirking, "And I must tell you, no matter who she is, i'd do the same thing again. and...no matter who she chooses, I'll change the decision. She's mine."


	10. The Date Ruiner

**Gomenasai, minna!! I didn't mean to update so late!! Waaahhh!! Hope you guys can forgive me! To be honest, I'm really feeling like this fic is going to be hard! See, this is actually my first ever multichap fic! I'm sorry if I haven't said so earlier!! Forgive me, I'm really forgetful! But anyway, thanks to those who supported me! I love you all!! And I hope you still keep on supporting my fic until the end! I'll do my very best!! **

**BTW, sorry for making Ichi look freaky!! Haha!! :p**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Devil Beside You.**

* * *

Renji sighed. What a possessive guy. Ichigo definitely needs to work on this kind of attitude. But Renji decided to keep his cool. He shrugged and said, "Is that so? Well, when I'm on the court, I always to everything I can. Whether it's an opponent, or a friend, all I know is that I must shoot that ball...and win."

"Don't forget, I know to play too."

Suddenly, the orange-haired teen dashed off across the lawn and approached a boy who was carrying a box. Apparently, _this _was the boy who was responsible for the whole firecracker thing. He glared at him and grabbed his shoulders. "If you do this kind of thing to a bird again, I'll get a big firecracker and blow off your tiny pecker!," he screamed angrily.

* * *

Rukia walked slowly across the lawn when she suddenly saw...Ichigo. And, he was bullying a kid! Rukia stopped in her tracks and clenched her fists. This guy is really unpredictable! It seemed to her that he can't do anything, but act like a big, fat bully.

"Go!," the orange-haired teen yelled, pushing the boy away.

Rukia narrowed her eyes and decided to approach the guy. He was going too far. He ran up to him. "How can you be so harsh!? Bullying a child. Your mom never taught you how to behave??," she yelled angrily.

Ichigo furrowed his brows in frustration. "You understand me well! I'm so bad, even she gave up on me!"

"I don't understand at all! I don't want to understand someone who's so proud of doing bad!," she retorted. "How to handle your type? Treat you like garbage!!"

Renji, afraid this might lead to another trouble, put his hand on Rukia's shoulder. "Rukia, don't say anymore."

Ichigo and Rukia kept glaring at each other. Then, suddenly, Ichigo took Rukia's scarf, which was wrapped around her neck. She gasped. "Don't touch me!!" How dare did this carrot-top touch her? _Just because we're stepsiblings-to-be doesn't mean he can do anything he wants._

Ichigo started to walk, but stopped when he faced Renji. "Rukia dressed up especially for this date. So I'll take this scarf to deduct points," he said with a laugh, "Rukia looks cute!"

Rukia glared. How dumb. How childish. How stupid. She can't stand it anymore! How long was this carrot-top going to keep acting like this?

"Enjoy the concert!! And don't forget that I ruined your date!," Ichigo yelled as he waved the scarf in his hands.

* * *

At the backstage, Ichigo was busily tying the scarf around his injured hand. He frowned, remembering what had happened earlier. Suddenly, one of the band members saw him and smiled.

"Ichigo, thanks for creating a dream stage for us today."

Ichigo concentrated on tying the scarf. "Whatever. Just don't give me crap. Give me good music."

"Remember when we started the band? You sacrificed your spot to another enthusiast. Otherwise, you'd be up here with us tonight."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. Him? Singing? Haha. Not in a million years. "I sing horribly. I'm the first to give up."

* * *

Five minutes later, the concert began and the band began playing. Ichigo stood backstage, watching the crowd. The band was really good, seeing that there were so many people who went to their concert. He soon found himself looking for Renji and Rukia, who still wasn't there. He smirked. _Those two are taking too long..._

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw two familiar figures walking down towards the stage. He smirked again. He really couldn't help but think that Rukia was cute. The couple smiled as they approached the stage. Rukia felt incredibly happy. This was her first time attending a heavy metal concert and she thought it sounded like fun. The band was good and there were certainly a lot of people who admired them.

"Everyone, listen up! We're going to perform one last song!! Get ready to hear _When You Look Me In The Eyes_!!," the band vocalist announced, striking one chord on his guitar. The crowd cheered. Rukia cheered as well. She didn't know what the song was, but she was definitely having fun. Even if Ichigo-the-carrot-top had tried to ruin their date, she was still happy that everything was going so well.

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a crash and a scream. She and Renji looked up at the stage. Rukia's eyes grew wide. _A band member had collapsed._

"I can't...fail...MOMOSU!!," the guy said to Ichigo, who had just dashed up the stage. "It's...up...t-to you."

Ichigo looked at him as the other band members began taking him away. Nervousness slowly overcame him. He was going to play for the band. What on earth was he gonna do? He decided to shrug it off. _Whatever. I'll just do what I can._

The crowd, who seemed to have forgotten the awful incident, began cheering again. "Momosu! Momosu! Momosu!"

Ichigo smiled to himself. The crowd was cheering for the band. He told himself he had better do his best or he'll kick his own ass. As soon as the sick member had been taken to the hospital, the band began to play again. Ichigo stepped onstage with the other band members and soon, the music began to play.

_If the heart is always searching,_

_Can you ever find a home?_

_I've been looking for that someone,_

_I'll never make it on my own._

_Dreams can't take the place of loving you,_

_There's gotta be a million reasons why it's true_

Ichigo began playing the guitar. His hand, which was injured a little while ago, began to sting. But he smirked and decided to ignore it. After all, he was doing his best for this band. The band with many fans, the band who had practiced hard, and the band whom he had helped. But as he kept on playing, he couldn't deny the fact that he was doing his best because a certain _someone _was watching.

_When you look me in the eyes,_

_And tell me that you love me._

_Everything's alright,_

_When you're right here by my side._

_When you look me in the eyes,_

_I catch a glimpse of heaven._

_I find my paradise,_

_When you look me in the eyes_

Rukia watched and frowned as she watched the band. She didn't know why, but she couldn't keep her eyes off that Ichigo-the-carrot-top. It was probably because he was the one who tried to ruin their first date. Rukia furrowed her brows. She knew it wasn't like that. There was something about this carrot-top that was making her so confused. _Is it really him?, _she thought to herself, narrowing her eyes. Was this the same Ichigo--the date ruiner, the bully, the idiot? How can a person who's all those things be generous and helpful enough to take the place of a sick band member? As she looked up at the stage, she was feeling different. She felt like it was just her and that Ichigo-the-carrot-top. _It can't be..._

* * *

Renji and Rukia walked slowly. They had fun and a lot of things happened. Renji sighed and glanced at Rukia, whose head was lowered. He knew she was feeling a little stressed out. He opened his mouth to say something, but he was surprised when the raven-haired girl suddenly spoke up.

"I had a lot of fun today. Thanks to you, Renji."

Renji smiled. "That was nothing, Rukia. I'm glad you did. I had fun too." He wanted to tell her something. But his mind was battling thoughts. Should he tell her or not? But his mouth worked before his mid did. "I...wanted to tell you something."

Rukia looked up at him. "What is it?"

Renji sighed. He knew he was doing the right thing, but...why did it feel so wrong? Why was it against his feelings? "You...you misunderstood Ichigo. Earlier, he was only scolding that boy because he did a really bad prank. I witnessed him, Rukia..."

Rukia lowered her head again. So that was it. She must've misunderstood him all along, she had mistaken his actions for wrong deeds. That was what was bothering her. At least, now she knew. She nodded and smiled at Renji. "Thanks, Renji! Now I understand. Well, I got to go now! I'll see you. Bye-bye," she said as she walked towards her house.

Renji stood in his place, dumbfounded. _Have I done the right thing?? Sometimes, doing the right thing feels...so wrong._

* * *

"What a tiring day," Rukia exclaimed as she soaked herself in the water. She figured a hot bath after an exhausting day would be the perfect way to freshen up. Then, she remembered what Renji -had said to her. She lowered her head again and sighed. _I had misunderstood Ichigo after all..._

Suddenly, she heard the phone ring. She grunted. _All throughout the concert, my heart was beating really fast. I feel like...I can't breathe. _She decided to stand up anyway and wrapped herself in a towel. She headed outside the bathroom and was about to pick up the noisy, ringing phone. Her head was spinning. "Must've...soaked...too long," she mumbled, collapsing onto the floor.

* * *

**Yehay! Another chapter!! I wish it could've been more longer, though. It's only 1,707 words!! I was thinking maybe I should make it as long as 2,000 words!! Ugh!! Well, don't worry!! I'll still do my very best!! And please review!! Reviews always motivate me!! Thank you to all who have been so supportive!! I love you guys!! **

**P.S. I...I won't be able to update faster anymore...See, school's comin' up. Gomenasai minna!! But I'll still try my very best!! Arigatou!!**


	11. In His Hands

**Oh well...sorry, everyone. I know it took SO LONG for me to update. Well, it's because I have school!! nyahahaha!! But don't worry...I'm trying my best to update faster!! hahaha!! I hope you like this chap!! Thank you so much to those who reviewed and favorited!! I love you guys!! I hope you keep on supporting DBY!!**

**Read and Enjoy!! :p**

* * *

Rukia blinked her eyes. Where was she? She sat up and saw herself in an unfamiliar surrounding. _I'm...dreaming?_ she sighed and laid back down. "I need to sleep more," she mumbled, snuggling in the soft, warm sofa bed.

Byakuya stared at her and blinked. Suddenly, Rukia bolted up and her eyes shot out of their sockets. "Where am I?," she gasped, looking around. She suddenly spotted Byakuya, the school president, sitting beside her. What on earth was he doing in there? She looked around again. This house--

"Rukia! You're already awake!!," said Byakuya, smiling down at her.

"What happened!!," Rukia screamed, bolting up the sofa bed.

"I'm so happy, Rukia!," he axclaimed, changing the subject. "I've always dreamed of having a cute daughter like you!!"

Rukia looked at him as if he were some kind of a psycho killer or something. She was still confused. How on earth did she get in here?

"From starting today, treat this as your own home. Okay? In a house as big as this, there's room for you too!," Byakuya said, smiling at her.

_Rukia raised an eyebrow. Seeing the president like he's extremely happy...I'm starting to remember my sketchy memory..._

* * *

_We are unable to take your call..please leave a message," the answering machine said. Rukia lay on the floor, unconscious. Her raven hair spread onto the floor and the towel that was wrapped around her small body were the only clothes she was wearing. Her head felt like it was about to break open any minute._

_"Daughter dear, why haven't you answered the phone?," asked her mother's voice as the phone continued to beep. "Your aunt's mom passed away. I've gone to help and won't be back for 2 or three days."_

_Beep._

_"But fear not. I've asked my fiance, Byakuya, to take care of you. I've given him the house key to come and pick you up. That's it. Bye."_

_Rukia lay on the floor and apparently, she didn't hear what her mom said on the answering machine. "Mom...," she groaned._

* * *

"Wants me to move here!? Puh-leeze, who needs it!?," she thought. She suddenly screamed and stood up on the sofa bed. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY TOWEL!!"

"Don't worry, I asked a maid to change your clothes," Byakuya said reassuringly. "The clothes were sent by your mom."

"Uncle, thanks for your intentions, but I gotta go!," Rukia said. She ran down the living room and suddenly came to a halt. Her eyes grew wide. She slowly turned around and sweat-dropped. "Um...where's the door again?"

Byakuya remained silent and sat down on the sofa bed, his cheerful smile turning upside down. Rukia now stared at him as if he were some kind of spoiled eggs. _What on earth..._

Rukia was suddenly surprised when suddenly, Byakuya's expression turned into goo-goo eyes and a pouting lip. "Rukia, you can't accept me!? You don't approve of your mom marrying me!? So you won't let me take care of you?"

Rukia shook her head. _Oh no..._"No, that's not it, uncle! It's just...," she mumbled. Then, she sighed and dropped her shoulders. "Forget it. Whatever you want."

Byakuya's goo-goo eyes came back to his cheerful smile. "That's great! Rukia, you're good!!"

Rukia raised an eyebrow. _Why is the president so strange? When we saw him before, he wasn't like this at all!_

"Oh, I"m going to show you something that's really cute!"

_And what could that be?_

* * *

That evening, Byakuya and Rukia spent the night rummaging through old photo albums and high school yearbooks.

"Look at this, Rukia! It's Ichigo at the age of four! Isn't it cute?," Byakuya asked, pointiong to a picture where Ichigo's face was scrunched up and his tongue was sticking out. There was also a birthday cake in front of him.

"We made him blow the candle, and after so many tries, he couldn't blow it off! He couldn't do it and cried."

Rukia laughed and continued looking at the other photos. _But he really was cute...just like a little girl_. She suddenly spotted a photo where Ichigo was smiling and he held hands with a woman. The woman had strawberry blonde hair and eyes just like Ichigo's. Rukia smiled. This was definitely Ichigo's best picture! "What a beautiful woman," she breathed.

Byakuya turned to look at her and his smile immediately turned into a grave expression.

"Is that Ichigo's mom?"

"Uh...yeah. That's weird. This photo...I remember putting it away."

Rukia frowned. She was worried that she said somthing to upset Byakuya. She lowered her head and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Byakuya softened and managed a little smile. "Don't be sorry. When Ichigo's mom ran away from home, he'd just started elementary school."

Rukia looked at him and back to the photo, where Ichigo was actually wearing a bright green top and light green pants. It must've been his school uniform.

"The reason for the failed marriage," Byakuya continued,"was because I was totally focused on my career, and left all the responsibilities of the house to her."

Rukia lowered her head again. She knew this was a sensitive topic and Byakuya probably hated talking about it. But Rukia was more than willing to listen. "At the time when he...," Byakuya continued,"needed his mom's love the most, he lost her."

His words hit Rukia like a huge boulder. She suddenly remembered what had happened the other day.

* * *

_Rukia narrowed her eyes and decided to approach the guy. He was going too far. He ran up to him. "How can you be so harsh!? Bullying a child. Your mom never taught you how to behave??," she yelled angrily._

_Ichigo furrowed his brows in frustration. "You understand me well! I'm so bad, even she gave up on me!"_

* * *

Rukia's eyes drifted back to Byakuya, who was examining the picture. "Allowing the family to fall apart, is the greatest failure in my life."

_So it was uncle's self-blame that led to Ichigo being so spoiled. _She decided to smile and put a hand in his shoulder. "Ichigo can't not feel the love you have for him. The time at school, I saw him with you. It was the first time I saw his expression slowly change from violent and mean...to gentle," she said, smiling.

Byakuya smiled back at her. Rukia's eyes grew wide when his eyes turned like chibi hearts again. "Oh, Rukia! You really are like a small angel! Even your words have the power of love!"

Rukia sweat-dropped and said," Uncle, you're too excited!"

Byakuya's expression went to normal again and Rukia sighed. Byakuya looked at her and said,"I belive...that if it's you, you'll be able to change the scary Ichigo." He took her hands in his and bowed. Rukia's wide eyes grew even wider. "From now on," Byakuya continued, "please look after Ichigo!"

Rukia was about to protest when suddenly, he raised his head and met her eyes. "I know..in actuality, he's very lonely inside."

"I..."

Byakuya pointed his finger at her and said,"I know you're hungry! I'll cook for you, okay?"

He headed towards the kitchen and put on a bright pink apron with mini hearts on it. Rukia smiled at him as she watched him begin his 'cooking.' She sighed and thought, "_Even if I don't know what the future holds, I think I can understand why my mom likes uncle."_

Byakuya continued his cooking as Rukia watched him carefully. She suddenly felt a figure sitting beside her. She turned to see--

"Looking for me?" It was Ichigo. She looked back at Byakuya and said,"Uncle, Ichigo's here!"

Byakuya smiled and dashed towards Ichigo, carrying his spatule, when suddenly, his foot tripped on a pair of slippers. The two teens' eyes grew wide and luckily, they both stepped out of the way, causing Byakuya to fall on the couch headfirst.

Ichigo and Rukia looked back at her. Ichigo's frown seemed to twitch and Rukia could tell he wanted so badly to smile. "You're dangerous!!," he yelled angrily. Or was he laughing? "You almost killed me!"

Byakuya suddenly turned to face Rukia and almost hit her with the spatula, but luckily, and as expertly as as before, she dodged it just in time. "Did you know what the master chef on TV said?," Byakuya asked.

"Which thing?," Rukia asked. Byakuya looked up and spoke. "A cook's thoughts can be transferred to needy people, and allow then to feel happy again!"

At his last word, he pointed his spatula and pretended that it was a sword. He turned around and imagined hitting a meatloaf. Ichigo, who was behind him, dodged. When Byakuya noticed that he was actually closer to breaking his son's head in half, Ichigo stood up and yelled, "Bullshit!!"

Rukia immediately grabbed Byakuya's shoulder and said,"No! Sounds reasonable!"

"Exactly! I want to transfer my happiness onto the two of you!," he said, grinning like a madman. He grinned at Ichigo, who only returned a frustrated froen and turned back to Rukia. "But..Rukia, don't you think it's unmanly that I love cooking?"

Before Rukia could respond, Ichigo interrupted, "It's good that you realize! That apron is very feminine!"

Bykauya looked at the pink hearts on his apron. His turned into the teary, chibi eyes again. He looked at Rukia for self-esteem. Rukai sweat-dropped. "Of course not! Really manly!"

Byakuya grinned and Rukia clapped her hands as if they were putting on a show. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the two of them. He wondered how these two could even understand each other. His father was an insane man who was the president of their whole school, but still acts as if he's just in elementary, while Rukia--

"Alright! I'll begin again!," Byakuya yelled, interrupting Ichigo's thoughts.

* * *

Salad, Chinese Bbq, Fried fish, chocolate mousse, fried eggs, french fries, fried rice, chopped vegetables, and a whole bunch of other dishes laid on the table. Rukia's eyes went wide as she took her seat at the dinig table. Sure, she was hungry, but there was absolutely no way she could finish up everything in there. Even if she only filled her plate with one of everything, she was definitely sure her stomach would explode. _Midnight snack to the nth degree...way too extreme..._

Ichigo frowned at the table. _What is this old man thinking? If the whole neighborhood joined in to eat with us, there'd still be plenty of leftovers! Jeez.. _"Old man, are you a pig?"

Byakuya looked thoughtful. "Well, since I don't know Ruki-ruki's taste, I decided to be prepared!"

Rukia raised an eyebrow. _Ruki-ruki? Where on earth did that come from?_

Ichigo looked at Byakuya and said,"Wasteful. Do you know how many people are starving in Africa?"

Byakuya dropped his head and suddenly looked up. "I know! The 3 of us can play games together!"

A vein popped in Ichigo's head. He lifted his other hand, which was covered in bandages, for Byakuya to see. "You're too much! Can't you see that my hand hurts?"

Rukia looked at him and memories from the day before cam flooding back to her. Byakuya narrowed his eyes at Ichigo's hand and asked, "You're hurt? How did you hurt it?"

"Fought an alien. They cut my hand open and put a microchip in," he said. Rukia wanted to laugh. What kind of an answer was that? "I could explode at any time!," he added.

Byakuya smiled and looked at Rukia. "My son. Cool, handsome, and has a good sense of humor." Rukia nodded. "Laugh a little," Byakuya added. Rukai giggled. Boy, she really wanted to burst from laughter. Her eyes suddenly drifted back to Ichigo's wounded hand. She suddenly lost all her laughter inside and her guilt began to grow again.

* * *

Ichigo laid in his bed, looking at the scarf that he had used to wrap around his wound yesterday. He was thinking of Rukia...again. Whatever he does, he couldn't seem to get her out of his mind. He knew that what he said and did before, weren't really true. He wasn't even sure if he really felt that way about Rukia. But...why can't he seem to stop thinking about that raven-haired midget? His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a know came at his door. He quickly hid the scarf under his pillow and went to open the door. To his surprise, he saw Rukia.

"Is your hand..okay?," she asked in a very quiet voice.

Ichigo scowled and said, "Bought a bandage and wrapped it." _Was she worried?_

"Do you have any medicine? I'll dress it for you," she said, looking at him expectantly.

Ichigo was surprised, but he nodded and said, "Okay."

He let Rukia in and took the medicine inside the medicine cabinet. Rukia opened it and took out a piece of cotton and dipped it in Betadine. She sat beside Ichigo and the bed and started dabbing the cotton onto his wounded palm. As Rukia examined the wound, she felt more guilt building up inside of her. It was a really huge one. And Ichigo got it just because he cared for a small bird. She blew onto it and asked, "Does it hurt?"

Ichigo smirked. "A lot."

Rukia suddenly felt chills go up her spine. She suddenly looked up at him and her eyes met with his. She immediately looked back at the wound and tried to hide her blushing face. _Why is he looking at me like that? Hi unguarded expression really confuses me. _"Does it still hurt?"

Ichigo didn't know why, but he sat up and his face grew dangerously close to Rukia's. "Hurts," he whispered onto her ear. Rukia's heart began to beat faster. She pulled away.

"Are you cold?," Ichigo asked. Rukia shook her head. "I'm...fine."

She was surprised when Ichigo suddenly wrapped his thick blanket around them both. Her blush began to grow deeper and she was sure she was as red as a tomato. She didn't dare look into his eyes. "I...I really wasn't cold."

Her heart suddenly raced when she felt Ichigo's head rest on her shoulders. His eyes were closed. "Under your administrations, it's less and less painful."

Soon, Ichigo began to fall asleep and Rukia's shoulder was starting to get numb. She slowly rested his head on the pillow and covered him with his blanket. As she was about to go out of the room, she felt herself being pulled. She turned around and saw Ichigo, eyes still closed. She tried to pull away, but she was afraid she might wake him up and make him mad. She decided to sit back down beside him. Then, she suddenly felt herself being wrapped around his shoulders and now, she could feel his heart beating. Her cheeks reddened. "Ichigo!," she whispered.

_Oh no..._

* * *

**So whaddayya think? I know this is the longest chap i've ever posted! I hope you like it!! Hahahaha!! Finally, it's IchiRuki!! Review!!**


	12. Confusion

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach**

**Hahahaha!! It took me so long again...well, school's really in full-swing and I need to focus!! Waah! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one!**

* * *

Ichigo smirked as he stared at the raven-haired girl lying down beside him. She looked so cute and so angelic, although Ichigo didn't really want to admit that to himself. He really wanted to laugh out loud. Just as he was about to stand up, Rukia moaned and opened her eyes. She sat up groggily and turned to look at Ichigo.

"Where am I?"

Ichigo grinned. "Good morning, big sister!"

Rukia's amethyst eyes grew wide. "WHAAAAAT!! What on earth am I doing in here?," she cried, hurriedly getting out of the bed. She glared at Ichigo. This was his fault. If he hadn't pulled her the night before, she wouldn't have slept with him in that room. The thought made her shiver. Rukia knew nothing happened, but it made her feel silly.

"You fell asleep," Ichigo answered matter-of-factly.

Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Fell asleep!? Why didn't you wake me up??"

"Idiot. Dad must've seen us sleeping and he put you in the bed!," he said, walking towards her, "you talk in your sleep.."

Rukia lowered her head. There he goes again. She hated it whenever he was so close to her like this. "I...talk?." she managed to say without looking up. Ichigo nodded. "You said, 'I think I'm starting to like Ichigo.'"

Rukia stuck out her tongue at him and stormed out of the room. She headed towards the bathroom and splashed her face with water. She didn't know why, but she feels so different around that orange-haired guy. She continued splashing her face madly with water.

_Darn it. I slept with him. With HIM! With that carrot-top!!, _she thought. The petite girl continued to splash water on her face.

Splash_. I cant believe it...How stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

Especially when he tries to trap her and get dangerously close to her, ooh--she wanted so badly to strangle him and feed him to the sharks. She could feel her skin hairs standing up at the thought. What was this feeling? There was definitely something she couldn't explain, but what on earth was it?

Splash._ I'm so stupid! Why did I let him have so many chances?? _

Suddenly, she froze as she remembered what he said earlier. _"you talk in your sleep...You said, 'I think I'm starting to like Ichigo.'_

Rukia shook her head furiously. "No!," she yelled. There was absolutely no way she would say that even in her dreams. There was no way she's **_starting to like Ichigo. _**Definitely not in a million years! But no matter how she wanted to deny it, she still couldn't stop thinking about him.

_The look on his face last night...I don't know why, but I actually can't get it out of my head! _She shook her head furiously again. What on earth was wrong with her? She pouted. "No, no, no..," she said to no one in particular, as she turned to face the mirror. "Why can't I seem to control myself?"

* * *

Rukia stared out the car window. A lot of students were gathered at the front of the school. Some were goofing around, others were hurrying to their respective classrooms, and others were looking at some announcements on the bulletin board. The car stopped and Byakuya, who was sitting beside Rukia on the back seat, got out and smiled. Ichigo, who was sitting on the front seat, followed.

"Hey, get out!," he said to Rukia. Rukia glared back at him. For a carrot-top, he sure was demanding.

"I'm already getting out," she mumbled, getting out and taking her bag with her.

As she, Ichigo, and Byakuya made their way towards the entrance, Rukia could hear several people making statements about the president's...um, their car.

"Wow...a Benz. Totally awesome!," said a guy.

"Yeah...extremely rich!," another stated.

Rukia sighed and pretended not to hear. Not only being with Ichigo made her feel weird, but being considered now as the president's stepdaughter was sort of...unusual. She knew that only a few people knew about it--probably not even their whole class, but still...She glanced up at Ichigo and saw that he was wearing that usual scowl on his face.

"Hey, isn't this a bit excessive?," she asked.

"Told you it wasn't necessary," Ichigo replied. Then he turned to Byakuya, "Hey, old man! I'm telling you, this is the first and last time."

Byakuya shrugged and continued walking. Rukia, who was worried she'd be late for class, ran as fast as she could, leaving Ichigo staring after her.

At the classroom, Inoue and Momo were there as usual, being the 'most punctual' students.

* * *

"So you, the president, and Kurosaki-kun came to school together?," Inoue asked.

Rukia pouted as she sat down and placed her hands on her desk. "Yeah. Just because it was convenient, uncle dragged me into it."

The three girls chatted in silence, but unknown to them that there was 'someone' who was listening intently to what they were saying .

"Convenient? So..that means...you stayed at Kurosaki-kun's last night!," Momo exclaimed, grinning. Rukia stood up and immediately covered her mouth with her hand. "Keep it down," she whispered to Momo, nodding towards Renji, who sat two seats across from them. Momo nodded. "But why at Kurosaki-kun's?," she whispered. "Weren't you with Renji? You were even going to a concert! Didn't you two make up? How did you end up at Kurosaki-kun's?"

Rukia furrowed her brows. She didn't want to remember what happened. Especially... She stood up and headed out of the room. "No more talking."

"Hey, where are you going, Rukia?," asked Inoue.

"I'm going to check out some books at the library," she answered, not looking back.

Momo looked at Inoue. They were both thinking the same thing. "Hey, why is it so difficult for Rukia to live in her father-to-be's house? They're going to be a family anyway," Momo wondered out loud.

Inoue nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's what they say. But don't forget the danger factor in that house, Kurosaki-kun. He stole Rukia's first kiss."

Renji, who had been silent for awhile, felt like he was hit by a huge boulder. Those girls...especially Rukia, think they can hide it from him. But no...he knew the whole truth. And it was freaking him out. The madness, the anger, the grief...all built up inside his heart. He slammed his fists angrily onto the desk and hurriedly went out, causing two pairs of eyes to look back at him.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the library, Rukia was pulling out books from the shelves. She didn't even know what she was pulling. Her mind seemed to center around a lot of thoughts and the only word she could describe herself in was confused.

_Is it...it because I feel guilty? Why don't I want Renji to hear anything about Ichigo? I feel as if...I've wronged him._

As Rukia turned around to head towards the librarian's desk, a strange, frightened feeling overcame her. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at the familiar face staring back at her. Her heart beat faster, and she felt...terrified.

"Renji...is something wrong?," she asked as calmly as she possibly could.

"What should I do that's better? Even if you didn't hand it to me, when I saw that confession letter and found out that me and the girl I have a crush on actually like each other, do you know how happy I was?"

Rukia stared at him, confused. What was he trying to say?

"But, but...," Renji continued, "I also see the girl I like...kissing another guy."

Rukia's eyes grew wider as Renji's expression turned cold and heartless. Rukia didn't know what to do. She wasn't even sure if this was the Renji she knew. She stepped backwards as Renji slowly approached her.

"I-Ichigo suddenly kissed me...," she mumbled, her voice shaking.

"At the concert, your eyes could see only him. It was like I didn't exist. Wasn't that our first date?," Renji asked, walking towards her. His eyes seemed to pierce through hers. Rukia was confused...why was Renji being so scary? Why was he acting so...different? Renji placed his hand onto her shoulder as he pinned her to the wall.

Rukia winced. "Renji, you're hurting me...let me go!," she said as she tried to free herself from his tight grasp. Renji didn't budge. Rukia looked into his dark, piercing eyes. They were so terrifying. She had never seen Renji like this before. Why wasa he being like this? Her amethyst eyes suddenly grew wide when Renji leaned closer to her. Their noses were almost about to touch. Rukia closed her eyes shut. _No..no...no...NO!!_

"Renji Abarai."

Renji quickly pulled away and took his hands off the petite woman. His eyes darted to the orange-haired figure staring back at them. He took at deep breath and his eyes seemed to be stuck as a glare. Ichigo glared back at him. They also didn't notice that Inoue and Momo had just arrived and were standing at the doorway.

"If you have some private business, can you please do it somewhere else?," Ichigo said.

As Renji walked closer to him, he clenched his fists. He was angry at that orange-haired guy. After all, he was the guy who stole his girl's first kiss. He hated him. He hated him so much that he wanted to rip his head off and feed it to the sharks. He was near him now. Rukia, Inoue, and Momo feared that Renji and Ichigo might start a fight. They'll start a scene and soon they'll all end up in the principal's office. Worse, they might even get suspended.

Ichigo clenched his fists. If this red-haired guy would punch him, he'd punch back too. He knew it very well that this guy definitely is not the right guy for his sister. But there was also another feeling. And it was mingling with all his thoughts. He didn't know why, but he didn't want this guy to hurt Rukia. If this guy dared to do anything bad to Rukia, Ichigo swore he'd kill him.

Renji stopped walking and faced Ichigo. "Mind your own business, carrot-top."

"What the hell did you say?"

'I said, 'MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!," Renji yelled, lunging forward to punch Ichigo in the face. Rukia gasped and when her suddenly processed what was happening, she ran as fast as she could onto Renji's side and spread her arms. Ichigo, who was about to punch the red-haired man, immediately saw who was in front of him, and restrained himself just in time.

Rukia glared at him. "Enough! I'm outta here!," she yelled, darting past Inoue and Momo out the door, causing the two to look back after her.

Ichigo turned his glare to Renji, who returned his glare back. "If you dare hurt her like that again, I'll kill you."

Renji ignored him and stormed off.

* * *

Rukia stood under the tree. It was the only place she could run off to. She wanted to clear her mind. It was filled with worry, terror, and...relief? Why was she feeling relieved? And she felt upset at the same time. It was so confusing. TheRenji she loved_..._he was gone._Ichigo...if he hadn't come, Renji would've.._

She was surprised when a hand gently tapped her shoulder. She turned around. It was Inoue. Momo was behind her, looking worried. Inoue stared into Rukia's worried face and took a deep breath. "Rukia...we weren't trying to interrupt you two."

"But we caved under Ichigo's intimidation," Momo continued. "And could only let him go."

Inoue bit her lip and sudden;y brightened up. "We'll find another way for you and Renji to finish whatever!"

Rukia, who seemed to be silent for a minute, finally spoke up. "It's not that." It came more like a whisper. "On the contrary, I was relieved." Momo's jaw dropped open.

"I didn't know why Renji changed into someone so scary. I told him he wasn't who I thought he was, and he got so angry at me.," Rukia continued, thinking back on what happened. It felt like she was talking to a different person back there.

"It feels like I can't find what I liked about him anymore. Should I keep projecting my ideals onto this total stranger?"

Inoue and Momo looked at reach other. They knew what their friend was talking about. But why?

"So..when Ichigo appeared," Rukia continued,"I let out a sigh of relief."

"Rukia, you haven't--"

"Wait," Inoue interjected, approaching Rukia. What did she mean total stranger? She hadn't really loved Renji at all! What an idiot! Can't she even notice her own feelings? And to think of the effort she and Momo put together just to help them with their problems! Why can't she be more responsible?

"Rukia, don't you know what you told Renji was very wrong? Don't you know what dating is? In dating, Renji is just like you. He doesn't know what you're thinking either! And ion the end, what did he get? People like you are confusing and irresponsible!! You really hurt the other person!" Inoue knew she was getting angry. She was getting angry at Rukia.

Rukia lowered her head. Inoue was right. Why was she so irresponsible ion the first place? And why is everything going so wrong?

"I feel really stupid trying my best to help you!," Inoue yelled. "Good BYe!."

Rukia flinched. Inoue's words hit her like a bullet. Even her best friend...even Inoue and Momo...Rukia tried her best not to cry. Momo, who stood frozen in her place, bowed at Rukia and ran off s well.

Inoue ran off, wiping away her tears. "Stupid, stupid Rukia!"

Rukia lowered her head. If...to to love someone was this hard, why did she do it? Why didn't she know it would mess up her whole life? And Ichigo...why did she feel so relived? Wasn't she supposed to be in love with Renji? So why did she feel relieved when she saw the person who was actually the reason for their problems? Why?

* * *

**Oh...I think this chapter sucks! But at least I updated!! Yay!! I dunno why, bu whenever I update, I feel as if a huge load is lifted off my back! Yay! Anyway, thanks to those who favorited! I hope you review as well!! Thanks so much! D**


	13. Friends Forever

**Hi there everyone!! Well, I've missed writing soo much! I really wanted to update as fast I can, but school's really in full swing!! And we're gonna have our monthly test this week!! Oh boy!! But I'm really glad coz I'm still able to drop by and update little by little!! **

** Anyway, thanks to those who reviewed for the previous chapter! You don't know how happy you've made and i'm sooo grateful to all of you!! Thank you sooo much!! I'm so blessed to have nice friends like you!!**

**Alright, I think I'm getting carried away. Well, since it's Ichi's bday, I think i'm gonna dedicate this chap to him. I wanted to post a two-part thingy, but I think I cannot do it at all!! Hahhahaha...We've got TONS of thing comin' up at school, and to be honest, i'm not sure how I could deal with those!! I miss summer vacation already!! :(**

**.(giggles)...ENJOY!!:p**

** and Review...(didn't see that coming)!**

* * *

Rukia blinked her amethyst eyes as she slowly sat up and yawned. "Morning already?," she mumbled, stretching her arms. She sighed, suddenly remembering what had happened the day before. She quickly got up and pulled open the curtains, causing some sunlight to enter her room. It was another Saturday.

"Oi, midget! Get up! Dad prepared breakfast," said a voice outside the door.

Rukia frowned. That orange-headed--

"I'm coming!," she replied, closing the curtains and putting on her bunny slippers. She smiled at them. It was the present Inoue gave her last Christmas. Rukia suddenly remembered their argument. What if Inoue wouldn't want to talk to her again? Rukia didn't want to hurt her best friend, and she knew she was stupid enough to have done that. She sighed. _I hate me..._

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal a sleepy Ichigo, wearing a dark blue sweater. Rukia looked up and glared at him. "Ichigo! Have you ever heard of 'Knocking?'"

Ichigo pretended to examine his fingernails. "No," he replied casually,"but I've done it...except that some midget here can't even hear me! Jeez, you've got earwax or somethin'?"

Rukia glared daggers at him as she walked over to him. "Haha. Very funny."

Ichigo took her hand and ran as fast as he could downstairs. In the blink of an eye, he and Rukia were both at the kitchen table, sitting at the warm chairs and staring at...a buffet table?

"Well, I still don't know what kind of foods you like, Rukia. So..as usual, I had to be prepared!," Byakuya stated, taking off his apron with a picture of Doraemon.

But the raven-haired girl didn't seem to notice. She continued glaring at the carrot-top who had hauled her downstairs. "Ichigo!," she yelled, standing up from her seat,"you're insane! Thank goodness I hadn't eaten breakfast yet!"

Ichigo smirked and pointed at her stomach. "Yeah, you'd be wearing it!"

Rukia made a face at him, but took her seat anyway. She smiled at the food. She was glad she was finally adjusting. In fact, she was already used to seeing a buffet table every morning and and ham and eggs every night. Byakuya's cooking was easy to appreciate.

"Thanks for cooking, uncle!," she said, looking around the table. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice in the garage. She quickly stood up and Byakuya and Ichigo followed her into the front door. Rukia opened the door slowly.

"Oh my!! Rukia-chan!!"

Rukia, who was now crushed underneath Hisana, laughed. "Mom! You're home already!! Wait, did you just get heavier?," she asked. Hisana laughed as well and stood up with Rukia. "Well, your mom's been eating a lot of pancakes lately."

Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Pancakes? Oh yeah!," she said, snapping her fingers,"my aunt's mom has a pancake house, right?"

Hisana nodded. Then she gave both Byakuya and Ichigo a hug. "Oh, I've missed you," she said, pulling away. Then, she remembered something. She lifted the plastic bag that she was carrying to reveal a -what Rukia would call an army- of pancakes. Amber, amethyst, and dark gray eyes grew wide. Hisana looked around, excitement shown in her face.

"Mom! That's enough to feed to the sharks!!," Rukia exclaimed, her eyes growing wide. Does her mom even see what's on her hands? _That's enough for a year's supply!, _she thought, shaking her head. Hisana just smiled and kissed her forehead. Then, she placed the _sack_ onto Rukia's arms. In less than a minute, tha sack fell.

"Mom, are you trying to kill me?," Rukia asked, raising an eyebrow. Ichigo did a funny snort-laugh and slapped Rukia's right arm. "She isn't trying to kill you. I mean, look at your height!," he teased, patting her head like she was some kind of puppy. Rukia gritted her teeth."Pardon?"

Ichigo smirked. "Awww...midget can't hear? I find that quite funny. Haha."

A vein popped in Rukia's forehead. "What. did .you. just .say?"

Ichigo pinched her nose. "I can see we have to take this slowly. But let's just summarize it. You're. A. Freakin--"

"That's it! You're. DEAD."

Ichigo's eyes grew wide at the sight of her murderous amethyst orbs. He quickly dashed upstairs. "Monster midget!," he cried as he ran up the stairs, sticking his tongue out at Rukia, who was running behind him.

Rukia continued running after him. She was getting even more frustrated. She didn't really expect something as crazy as this happening every morning. She knew she'd get used to having Isshin's roast pig for breakfast and eggs for dinner, but Ichigo? No way. She'd never get used to this. As she reached Ichigo's room, she quickly reached out to pull the door open, but the carrot-top inside grabbed it before she did and...unfortunately, Rukia's finger got caught.

;.;.;.

...

...

...

..

.

"OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwW!!"

The ear-piercing scream that came from the raven-haired girl's mouth seemed to shake the whole house. Rukia fell to the floor, clutching her wounded finger with her free hand. Ichigo suddenly opened the door, the smirk gone from his face. He rushed to Rukia's side.

"What happened?," he asked.

Rukia glared at him. "You jerk! You caught my finger!," she screamed.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and scratched the back of his head. "Alright, let me see," he said with a sigh.

But the raven-haired girl pouted at him and held her finger as far as she could. "No. You caught it in that...that stupid door of yours! I swear, if one of my finger bones are broken, I'm gonna take one from your teeth!!"

But the carrot-top wouldn't give up just like that. He grasped her wrist and examined her finger. His annoyed expression softened as he suddenly felt guilty for what he'd just done. Rukia's eyes grew wide and she tried to pull away, but Ichigo's grasp on her wrist was too tight.

"Ichi, let go!! You'll make it swell more!," she cried and pulled her hand away. But Ichigo grabbed it again, causing her eyes to grow wider.

"Let me take care of it!," he said through gritted teeth.

Rukia didn't protest any more, but she pouted. "Take care!? You're squeezing the life out of me!!"

Ichigo suddenly let go of her small hand. Then, he stood up to get some bandages inside his drawer. After taking a piece of cotton and Betadine, he went out and sat beside Rukia. "Gimme the hand!," he said impatiently.

Rukia rolled her eyes, but obeyed him anyway. She placed her small hands into his bigger ones and he started to dab the cotton gently onto her soft skin. Rukia stared at him. There was that look again. He was staring at her hand so softly. She looked away, trying to hide the deep red blush that was forming across her cheeks.

_Why is he being like that? Is this even him?_, she thought, rolling her eyes, _Ichigo...why does he seem so nice? Where was that "devilish" person from before? Does this mean that...he's changed? For the better?_

"Hey! I'm done. Now get up!," Ichigo said, interrupting her thoughts.

Rukia pouted again, but stood up anyway. Ichigo turned to leave, but she grabbed him by the arm. He turned around. "What?," he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rukia gulped. "Thanks...," she whispered. Somehow, she'd managed to smile at him.

Ichigo smirked. "That was nothin'."

* * *

Orihime Inoue paced around the room. She still couldn't stop thinking of what had happened between her and Rukia. She stopped when Momo suddenly entered her room.

"Inoue, calm down, will you? You're driving me nuts too! You're crazy!," she said, taking a seat on her soft bed.

Inoue stopped pacing, causing the other girl to giggle. "What? What's funny?," Inoue asked, half-smiling, half-frowning.

Momo shook her head. "Nothing. It's just that...You look so silly. You've been worrying about this since yesterday, Inoue! Take a break!"

Inoue took a very, very deep breath and sat down beside Momo. "Okay, I know I'm really insane. But Momo, I feel really guilty for being that mean to our best friend. I should've known that she wasn't really used to these kinds of things!! I should've been there to help her understand. I..."

Momo could hear the shakiness in her friend's voice and she knew she was going to cry any minute. She gave Inoue a pat on back and smiled. "Inoue, you know Rukia. You know that right now she's going nuts as well! And you know she wouldn't want your friendship to be broken, right?"

Inoue nodded. "Yeah!"'

Momo smiled, glad that she understood.

"So...what?," Inoue asked.

Momo sweta-dropped. "Inoue!!," she cried, putting her hands onto Inoue's shoulders.

Inoue's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"Look, what I mean is that Rukia must be wanting to apologize to you too, but doesn't know how to do it!"

Inoue brightened up and snapped her fingers. "You're right, Momo!! C'mon!! What are we waiting for? Let's go call her!!," she squealed excitedly, dashing out of the room.

Momo sweat-dropped again. "Jeez, what a weird person," she said, shaking her head. "Hey, wait up!!"

* * *

Rukia sat on her bed, enjoying the calm silence in her room. But the silence clashed with the confusion she was having inside her. _Inoue...I'm really sorry if I've offended you...I didn't mean it..., _she thought, sighing.

_What if...we'll never be friends again? What if...Inoue hates me forever? Oh no...that really can't be!! If we don't become friends...then...then..., _Rukia gulped. "Oh, I don't even wanna think about it!!"

Rukia didn't know how she really felt at the moment. She felt so awful. She and Inoue have been best friends practically since they were in diapers. And now...would their friendship break just because of a "dating" thingy?

"Rukia!!," Hisana's voice rang throughout the house. Rukia suddenly forgot her thought and opened her door.

"Yes, mom?," she asked.

"You've got visitors!!"

Rukia thought for a second. "A visitor?," she murmured. Who on earth could that be? _Oh no...it must be Ochi-sensei...it must be because I haven't passed that science homework!! Oh great!! Now I'm in an even bigger trouble!!_

"Coming!," she yelled back.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

..

.

As she walked down the stairs, she closed her eyes, but held the railings. _Oh my...I'm so sorry Ochi-sensei... I really am..._

But when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she slowly opened opened her eyes. She was surprised when it wasn't Ochi-sensei she saw...but...her best friends.

There was Inoue..standing by the doorway. With Momo. Rukia slowly walked over to them. "Inoue?? What are you guys doing here?," she asked, her voice barely audible.

Without a word, both Inoue and Momo wrapped her in a huge bear hug. Rukia's eyes grew wide. "Inoue...Momo.."

"Oh, rukia!! I'm really, really sorry for what I've done!! I hope you forgive me!! I'm the most awful friend!! I admit it!! And I'm really really sorry!!," Inoue cried.

Rukia's eyes softened as she returned the hug. "Oh, Inoue!! I should be sorry too!! I was an idiot!! A big, fat idiot!!"

Inoue suddenly pulled back. "Wait...you're not fat."

Rukia and Momo laughed. They all agreed to one thing. It was alright now. They're best friends again.

Inoue raised an eyebrow. "So this means..."

The three of them smiled smugly. "To the Ice Cream Shop!," they squealed together.

* * *

** Yes!! I'm done!! Now, please review!! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a million years!! And sorry if I had a lot of spelling and grammar errors! hope you didn't get a headache!! Take care!! And**

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**Review...**


	14. A New Beginning

**Hi everyone!! Yay, another chapter! By the way, I'm soooo sooo sooo grateful to those who favorited and reviewed in the last Chapter, you people made me super happy!! Thank you very much! We had our Nutrition Day too!! And boy, and if I ever hear another word about "food" again, I swear, I'll vomit!! Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever!!  
**

**Just kidding!! Enjoy!! :p**

* * *

It was a nice, normal day at the ice cream shop. The three friends smiled as they took their orders from the counter. Rukia had chocolate sundae, Momo had Banana Split, and Inoue had Mango ice cream. It was a very special day for the three of them and they were very glad that things had been settled between them.

"Hey, you two! It's my treat!," Inoue said, smiling. But the two just shook their heads.

"No, it's on me!! I'll pay!," Momo argued. It would be nice if she got to treat them just this once.

Rukia scratched her head. "No! I'll be the one who'll pay, okay?," Rukia asked, raising an eyebrow. The two laughed and nodded. When the three of them had settled into table, they didn't waste any time and started talking about what _exactly _happened.

"So, Rukia...what did you tell Renji?," Momo asked curiously, but with a bit of sympathy in her voice. Rukia sighed and faced her friends. She felt so awkward talking about it, but she knew that she'd better trust her friends on this. "I..I still haven't talked to him. That's next big step I have to take..."

Inoue nodded. "Yeah, Rukia. I think you should talk to him. After all, nothing will happen if you keep sitting there."

"And apologize for being a selfish, inconsiderate girl," Rukia continued, frowning. Even thought she knew her friends weren't mad at her anymore, she was still not feeling better, knowing that she had hurt somebody's feelings. She knew she wasn't really this emotional. Sometimes, she felt like she had no emotion at all. But now...why was everything being so hard for her?

"But Rukia...no matter how selfish and inconsiderate you are, you're still our friend. Don't forget that." Momo smiled, patting Rukia's hand. Inoue grinned as well and placed her hands on top the Momo's and Rukia's. Rukia smiled. She was glad that she still had friends like them. She loved these two so much. They were like sisters. And if it weren't because of them , she would have never found out that, even though she made so much mistakes, there are still people who will always be there for her to lift her up.

"I know that...thanks, you guys," she said, smiling back at them.

* * *

Tatsuki watched with anger as the three friends continued eating their ice cream. She was sitting alone by the window. _That Kuchiki...still hanging around my Prince. Fine then, if she won't give in, I'll let her take it the hard way._

She felt so angry at that girl. If she hadn't come into their lives, then her Prince would've been hers only. Why did she have to show up and destroy everything just like that? Why did she have to come and...change his world? Tatsuki wasn't only mad at Rukia, she was mad at herself. She was so mad because she had let her do it.

Now, she wasn't going to make the same mistake...

* * *

Rukia and Ichigo walked down the hallway, not speaking to each other. After what happened, Rukia couldn't really help but feel awkward around him. Especially in school. She gazed around her, looking for someone else to go with, but unfortunately, she couldn't find anyone. She just sighed and stared at Ichigo, who raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?," he asked.

Rukia took off her gaze and looked away. "Nothing."

"Okay, go off to your classroom," he said, tossing her the backpack. Rukia caught it, and made a face at him.

"Yeah, yeah," she replied.

"Midget," Ichigo teased, grinning. Sometimes, it's just too fun to tease her. Her face turns a little red, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, she looked cute.

Rukia stuck her tongue out at him. "Giant mole rat!!"

Ichigo ruffled her hair and ran off, receiving curses from the petite girl. Rukia decided to ignore him and carried her heavy backpack to their classroom. To her surprise, no one was there yet. She turned the lights on and her eyes widened as they darted towards a certain figure in the room.

"Renji...," she squeaked, staring at the red-haired guy in front of her.

Renji, a cold look in his eyes, turned to face her. He didn't say anything; he just stared at her, which made her feel even more awkward. Rukia blinked. What was she supposed to say? Her heart was beating so fast and so loud that it felt like it was going to jump out of her chest any minute.

"Renji," she said again, gulping. _Rukia, you'd better do it now. It's your only chance, don't let it slip away, _she told herself and tried to remember everything her friends told her. "Renji, I..I want to tell you something."

Her voice was shaking, but she wasn't going to back out now. It was the only solution and she had to do it now or never. She didn't expect him to answer, but all she wanted was to straighten things out between the two of them. Renji looked at her. "What?," he asked.

"Renji, I'm a really inconsiderate girl. And I...I'm really sorry...I used my emotions, and I got so confused. I didn't realize that I didn't really like you. I thought I was in love. And you're probably thinking...that I'm the most awful person you've ever met. I'm sorry..."

Rukia waited for some reaction from her hearer, but, upon receiving none, she continued. "I can't go out with you anymore, Renji. I like someone else...I like--," she closed her eyes before saying the last word. "Ichigo." It was almost a whisper, she was sure Renji probably didn't even hear it.

The red-haired guy stood up and turned to leave. As he passed by Rukia, he stopped and said, "I understand. I never really liked you anyway." And with that, he left. In his mouth was a grin, a happy grin. Now he knew that he made the biggest mistake, but he didn't forget that whatever may happen to him, it will all be for his own good.

As soon as she was alone, Rukia let a single tear flow down her cheek. But now, she knew herself really well. It may hurt at first, but it can't hurt her forever. She wiped the tear away and decided to let herself smile a true smile...

* * *

Ichigo smirked evilly as he headed towards the basketball gym. He knew a certain something about the basketball captain. And he wanted it to be settled NOW. As he entered the basketball court, he could hear the snickers of some of the players.

"Why is he so freaky?"

"I have no idea."

"Is he mad at us or somethin'?"

"Nah, I heard it's girl problems.."

"Really? But still, he shouldn't bring his personal problems in here."

Ichigo ignored them and headed towards the bench areas, where Renji was sitting, his eyes downcast. As Ichigo walked towards him, he put up a devilish grin. He was sure that the red-headed guy would want to beat him up. He approached him and glared.

"What do you want?," Renji asked in a whisper-like tone of voice.

Ichigo smirked. "Nothing," he answered. He saw Renji clench his fists. _Look redhead, I know you've got a grudge against me...take it out now_, he thought.

"Then go away. I don't wanna see your stupid face," he replied coolly.

"Come on, I know there's that anger boiling up inside of you. You can take it out on me now if you want to."

Renji didn't waste any time. With all his might, he clenched his fists and lunged forward Ichigo. The orange-haired guy tumbled backwards, his lower lip bleeding. As Renji looked at him, all he could see was...Rukia. Because of this devil, everything was ruined. Because of this devil, everything was torn apart. Because of this devil, he had to give up on the girl he loved the most.

Ichigo tried to sit up. He felt like he broke a lot of bones. But the devilish smirk never left his face. He wiped off the blood running down his chin as he tried to stand up. "Good one, redhead."

Renji ran forward at him and shoved his fists onto the orange-haired guy's stomach. Ichigo fell again, this time, his temples bled. "You bastard!," Renji yelled. All of the basketball members that had gathered around them were already frightened. But they knew they couldn't do anything to calm down the captain's boiling anger. Renji ran towards Ichigo and kicked him as hard as he could. Blood seeped out from Ichigo's mouth. "You worthless piece of crap! You shouldn't have come into our lives! ," Renji yelled, kicking Ichigo's back three more times.

Renji stopped as he tried to catch his breath. He wiped the sweat in his forehead. He felt a little calmer now. But there was one thing he didn't get..._why didn't that devil fight back?_

Ichigo, who was sure that _almost _all of his bones are now broken, slowly stood up. He could barely stand straight. He felt like he was drunk and run over by a 10-wheeler-truck. But now...he knew that Renji would be fine. They didn't say anything about it, but Ichigo was sure that they had come to point where they dealt that things between them would be okay now. Knowing that everything was over, Ichigo turned and decided to leave the court.

"Hey.."

Ichigo turned around, smirking at the red-haired guy. "Yeah!?," he answered weakly.

"Why didn't you fight back?," Renji asked, panting heavily.

Ichigo placed his hands inside his pockets. "I never wanted to fight back. And I don't care. Now that I know you'll be fine, I'll stay away from your butt and get lost." With that, he turned to leave.

Renji sighed. _That devil..._He ran back towards the bench area and drank water from the fountain nearby. He finally realized something important. _So I guess he wasn't such a bastard devil after all..., _he thought, smirking. At least, now...things would be much better. He can finally move on. _Without that devil on my butt.._, he thought, smirking again.

* * *

Renji ran outside the school lawn. It was a dreary afternoon, and after what happened earlier, he was sure he had let all his anger get away. Now, his feelings had made him think of what happened between him and Rukia. He couldn't help but feel so dejected. She was the only girl he had loved in his whole life. And he hated hos they weren't made for each other, he hated how people came between them..but what he hated the most...was having to let her go. He fell on his knees on the hard concrete floor, as the rain came pouring in sheets. And, whether or not he knew it was what he wanted to do, he let himself cry for the girl he loved more that his own life.

_I like...I like Ichigo. _Her words rang in his ears. Her words that hurt him so much.

From the far end of the road, Tatsuki was watching him. She sighed irritably and decided to walk towards the red-haired guy. _What an immature idiot..does he know what he's doing? Why did he have to fall in love with that midget anyway?, _she thought. As she approached him, she rolled her eyes. "Hey, wanna share with my umbrella?," she asked with an impatient tone of voice. _You'd better hurry up now, redhead. I'm losing my patience._

Renji slowly lifted his head up and looked at Tatsuki. _What is she doing in here?_

Tatsuki stomped her foot. "What!? Come on! Do you wanna sit in the rain for a little while longer so people can't tell whether it's rain or tears in your face? Jeez, get over it!"

Renji bit his lip. "You're mocking me," he said, causing the dark-haired girl to roll her eyes impatiently. "Why on earth would I even waste time to mock you?"

REnji quickly stood up and glared at her. "Comfort, teasing, or even sympathy. I don't wanna hear it."

Tatsuki sighed. "Who said I came here to comfort, tease, or sympathize with you? Are you out of your mind? I have one this to say to you so listen up and listen good, redhead. Forget about that Rukia girl. You know how darn hard it might be, but it's for your own good. Now I don't really care whether you got that or not. Oh great...now I remember that girl again...always hanging around Prince. What a stupid midget," she muttered, hands on hips.

Renji looked at her. And he didn't know what kind of being overcame him, but whatever it was, it made him smile. So he stood up and walked beside Tatsuki under the umbrella. Tatsuki smirked. "So much for the speech..."

Renji actually smiled. He didn't know why, but he felt as if his burdens were finally being carried away...

* * *

Rukia smiled as she waled down the street. It was a bright, sunny day. She felt so lighthearted. _I think it's time for a new begiining..._, she thought, smiling. She stopped by the street sign as she waited for some cars to pass by before she crossed the street. But as she was about to take a step, a motorcycle appeared in front of her. Eyes growing wide, Rukia suddenly saw the pool of orange-hair underneath the driver's helmet...and she immediately knew who it was.

"Ichigo, yesterday...thank you," she said slowly.

Ichigo smirked. "No need. Dear sister, climb aboard!," he said. Rukia looked at him hesistantly. "What!? But I...I don't have a helmet!"

Ichigo pointed at his back. Rukia's eyes grew grew wide. There was _the gang. _They all stood beside a van. And all of them were grinning like crazy. As Rukia was about to speak up, Ichigo immediately dashed off in his motorcycle.

"Ichigo!!," Rukia cried, "where on earth are you idiots taking me!!"

Yoji smiled. "Make a guess, Rukia-chan."

* * *

**So..how was it? Actually, I think it's the longest chapter of DBY!! Sorry for the wrong spellings and grammars! But I hope you enjoyed it too. And I put in a little Tatsuki/Renji part..heehee!! I'm a nice person, and I really can't bear seeing somebody (even characters that I hate) feeling like it's the end of the world. And I put in Renji's side of the story too. I think it's just fair that way! . Anyway, please, please, pretty, pretty please review!? With a cherry on top!? Thank to you all! God bless you and take care!! Stay tuned in!!**


	15. The Campout

**A/N: Well, I'm very, very sorry I haven't updated in, like, forever. See, I was soooooooooooo busy with school that I almost forgot that my fanfiction account existed!!! Jeez, you know what life is like in your Senior year, right!? =(**

**I'm really very sorry!!! Anyway, I still hope that I can finish this fic!! It has been my only goal so far: to finish this fic completely.**

**And after this, maybe I can make tons and tons of oneshots!!**

**Discalimer: Bleach isn't mine.  
**

**

* * *

**Rukia sighed deeply as Yoji pushed her inside their van. Where were they going to anyway? She couldn't contain the suspense anymore. She nudged Keigo, who was sitting beside her. "Keigo, where are you guys taking me?"

Keigo smiled mysteriously. Rukia just gave him a look of disgust and nudged Yoji instead. "Yoji, this is insane. Completely insane! Where are you guys taking me!?"

Yoji couldn't contain it anymore. Rukia rolled her eyes. Yoji burst into a fit of laughter. Rukia just shrugged. What on earth was so funny? She was surprised when the other guys joined in and they were all laughing inside the crazy, little van. Except for her. First they make fun of her, then they push her inside their van, and now they're _laughing at her!? _Rukia just couldn't let them get away with this.

"WHAT ON EARTH IS SO FUNNY!? HUH!?," she yelled through gritted teeth.

The guys stopped laughing. Silence followed after that as they stared at each other, except for Rukia who seemed to be glaring at everyone. "Uh...she's throwing a fit," whispered Chad, unaware that Rukia clearly heard him.

"Who's throwing a fit, Chad!?," she asked, her cheeks getting red. Yoji, being the good, old man that he was, calmly put his hand on Rukia's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "Relax, Rukia-chan! We're just taking you home! You seem....hot today," he said, grinning a little bit. Rukia just huffed and puffed. The guys decided to let her be. She looked so cute anyway.

_"Jeez, they could've just said so," _she thought, rolling her eyes.

Soon, they were parked outside Rukia's house. She picked up her bag and got ready to leave when Yoji suddenly pulled her arm. Rukia blinked at him. "Yes, Yoji?"

Yoji smiled. "Actually, Rukia, we were planning on having a campout this weekend. You know, like, a bonding or something like that. Do you think you'll be able to come? Ichigo really wanted to invite you, but I guess he couldn't....."

Rukia looked thoughtful. It would be nice to hang out with them once in a while. She smiled back at Yoji. "Who's coming, then?"

"Well, all of us. Plus we've invited Renji, Tatsuki, Inoue, and Momo as well. What do you think?"

Rukia beamed. That's something better! "Sure then!"

She couldn't wait.

*.*.*.*.*.*.

That Friday evening, Rukia got busy packing her things up. She'd been waiting for this moment so long. She carefully folded two pajamas and stacked them in the bottom of her bag. Soon, she was almost done with the packing. Only two more things were still not checked off in her checklist. And those were: her camera and her stuffed teddy bear named Martin.

She remembered that Ichigo had borrowed her camera the week before, saying he had to use it in some sort of.....experiment. Rukia didn't know what that kind of experiment that was, but she knew she had to get her camera back. She looked at her cellphone. It was already 10:45 p.m. Ichigo was probably asleep. She hesitated. "Okay then, maybe I should just get it tomorrow," she said to nobody in particular.

_On the other hand............what if he wakes up ahead of me? Oh! That camera's not even fully charged! I definitely need to get it right now so it could use some good charging._

She nodded to herself and got out of her room. She tiptoed slowly towards Ichigo's room. As she lifted her hand to knock at the door, she heard a soft humming. Her eyes grew wide and fear built up in her heart.

**There was nobody else with her.**

She could feel goosebumps rising in her skin. She stopped believing in ghosts a long time ago, but now she was way too scared to think of that. She quickly turned the knob which was surprisingly unlocked, got inside Ichigo's room, and shut the door behind her. Her eyes darted to Ichigo, who was sleeping soundly. She tried to catch her breath and calm herself down. She could still hear the eerie humming. She closed her eyes and jumped on Ichigo.

"What on earth are you doing here, you midget!?," Ichigo cried. Rukia slowly opened her eyes. Now she was on top of Ichigo and she probably didn't notice that she had wrapped her arms around his neck awhile ago when she jumped.

"Oh....I.....I.....," she stammered. She wasn't sure of what to say. If she told Ichigo there was some ghost outside, he'd just laugh at her and tell her she was being a baby. She let go of him and sat up. Ichigo sat up as well. Rukia remained silent, which worried the carrot-top. He looked at her as if he was examining her. "Oi," was all he could say.

Rukia still remained silent. Ichigo groaned and put his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, you okay?," he asked in a softer tone.

Rukia managed to nod. Ichigo sighed. "It's good you're okay. What happened to you anyway? Why did you come jumping at me like that?," he asked. "Don't tell me you wanted to have......"

That got Rukia. "NO! Jeez, Ichigo. What on earth are you thinking!?," she said, the look of fear not escaping her eyes.

Ichigo grinned. "Fine. Then tell me what's wrong."

"I...well,....see....I can hear something eerie outside," she whispered.

"Eerie? What eerie? You mean, like, voices or something?," he asked.

Rukia just nodded. As she looked up, her eyes met with Ichigo's. He had a look of....seriousness and fear etched in his face. She grew more worried. "Ichigo, what's wrong?"

Ichigo clutched his fingers. "The ghost......she's back......Rukia, what are we going to do?"

Rukia's eyes grew wide. So there really was a ghost! Ichigo was sweating now. She's never seen him so afraid before. Even _she _didn't know what to do. She put her hand on top of Ichigo's cold, freezing ones. "Ichigo....calm down, please."

Ichigo continued to shiver. Rukia grew more scared than ever. "N-no.....she-she's c-coming back....she.....sh-she's gonna kill us!!! SHE'LL KILL ALL OF US, RUKIA!"

_Footsteps..._

_Getting closer._

_And closer._

Rukia closed her eyes and buried herself in Ichigo's shirt. It was all she could do to fight the fear. She was surprised when the door quickly opened and in came.............................

two..........._weirdly looking monsters!?_

Rukia turned to look at Ichigo, who looked like he would die from laughter. She then looked at the two _weirdly looking monsters. _Who were they? She narrowed her eyes. Now she knew what all these meant.

And, oh boy, were they gonna get it.

*.*.*.*.*.*.**.*.

The next morning, as the group rode on the bus all the way to Niiyama Province, Rukia never spoke a word to Ichigo. And the worst thing was that she was sitting beside him. Rukia remained silent while Ichigo just listened to his iPod. She really hated this guy. He always makes things worse. She rolled her eyes as another memory from last night flashed back on her mind. Ever since that happened, she decided that every moment of it should be pushed at the deepest corner of her mind. She took a deep breath and looked outside. They still haven't reached Niiyama Province yet.

"Oi."

Rukia knew better. She decided to ignore him.

"Oi."

Rukia pretended to whistle. Only to find out that she didn't know how.

"Oi, if you're gonna keep on ignoring me like that, you'll never enjoy," Ichigo said.

Rukia put out her two hands and made a W sign with it. W for Whatever.

Ichigo pouted and decided to ignore her as well.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

As soon as they reached Niiyama Province, everybody let out whoops of excitement. Rukia decided to stay as far away from Ichigo as possible. She walked alongside Momo and Inoue.

"Okay everybody!!! Since I'm the oldest around here, I'll be the leader, okay!?," cried Yoji. Everyone groaned.

Yoji just beamed. "Come on, I'm not that bad!" Everyone laughed at his statement. "Anyway," he said, using his big-brother voice, "the spot where we'll be building our tents is up there. Everybody game for it!?"

A chorus of yeses filled the air. Yoji punched the air, a look of excitement obvious in his face. "Then, let's get it on!"

..........

.........

........

.......

......

.....

....

...

..

.

As soon as they had found a nice spot, everybody decided to set up their tents immediately. Rukia, who had no choice but to stay in the same tent as Ichigo, walked towards him and helped him with the tent. Ichigo beamed. "I thought you weren't gonna talk to me the whole day. I told you you can't resist me!"

Rukia glared at him. "I'm not talking to you, carrot-top! I'm helping you fix this tent because I'll be sleeping in it too, ya know!?" She ignored him and got back to putting the stands together.

A few minutes later, everybody finished setting up their tents. They all agreed that it was lunch time. Tatsuki, who didn't wanna sit with the girls, approached Ichigo. She gave him a smile. "Prince, can I sit beside you?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

From his spot, Renji gave Ichigo a Look. "Don't be like that, man. Be nice to the girl. You can sit with us, Tatsuki."

Tatsuki happily sat beside Ichigo and quietly ate her lunch. Sure, she felt a bit upset that Ichigo and Rukia will be sleeping together later on, but she pushed that thought away. Somehow, she noticed that Rukia and Ichigo were sort of ignoring each other. That was better for her. Meanwhile, Renji stared at Tatsuki as he ate his spaghetti. Why was she being clingy to Ichigo anyway?

_Wait, wait wait. What was I thinking just then?, _he thought, furrowing his eyebrows. _Tatsuki!? You've got to be kidding me..._

Meanwhile, the ohers seemed to be enjoying themselves._  
_

"Oi, Yoji," called Keigo.

Yoji raised an eyebrow. Keigo seemed to be having trouble with something."What?," he asked.

Keigo gave him a soft smile. "Can I have some of your fried fish?"

Yoji sweat-dropped. "Jeez Keigo...."

"Yeah Yoji, that fried fish of yours seems delicious," commented Mizuiro, who had fried chicken on his lunch box.

"Wait till you see what's on Uryu's lunch box," Chad said, pointing to Uryu, who was sitting on his left side.

"What have you got there, Uryu?," asked Ichigo.

Uryu carefully opened his lunch box to reveal well-arranged rows of sushi and other stuff. The boys' mouths watered. Uryu grinned proudly and folded his arms across his chest. "I made this myself!"

"Oooohh! Let me taste," said Keigo, taking one of the sushi using his chopsticks. He popped the sushi in his mouth and chewed carefully. Keigo narrowed his eyes.

"What does it taste like? I bet Uryu doesn't even know how to cook!," said Ichigo, doing a funny snort-laugh.

Keigo swallowed and suddenly, rivers of tears fell from his eyes. "IT'S SO DELICIOUS, URYU! I've NEVER TASTED ANYTHING LIKE IT BEFORE! I'M SURE YOU'LL MAKE A GOOD WIFE!," he cried as he reached out to hug poor Uryu.

Uryu immediately let his foot collide with Keigo's face. Keigo fell like a rag doll. Uryu pushed his glasses up and grinned evilly. "Now, who doesn't know how to cook, Ichigo?"

Ichigo raised his hand as if he were a student being asked a question."Me!"

Everybody cracked up.

"No, seriously, man? You don't know how to cook?," asked Mizuiro who was about to die of laughter.

Ichigo shrugged. "Nobody taught me how," he said, giving the others an innocent look.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

That evening, after dinner, most of them felt very tired. Yoji, being the leader, suggested that everyone should get ready for bed. They all groaned.

"But Yoji, it's still early! Can't we have a bonfire?," asked Inoue.

"Yeah, what's a campout without a bonfire?," agreed Ichigo.

Everybody agreed that they should have a bonfire. The boys scattered to find logs that they can use to build the bonfire while the girls prepared s'mores so they could munch on something while they talk later on. As soon as all of them had found enough logs, they gathered together in front of their tents and Yoji lit the bonfire. He took one log away to make sure that the fire won't be that big. Everyone smiled. Especially the boys. It was the first time their group had ever went out camping like this.

"So.....," Inoue began.

"So what?," asked Tatsuki.

"What will we talk about?," Inoue blurted out.

"I know, I know!," chirped Momo. She had a mysterious smile in her face.

"What is it?," everybody asked at the same time.

Momo giggled. "Why don't we play spin the bottle? The person to whom the bottle points at will be asked a question!"

Rukia smiled. "What kind of question?"

"Well, any kind of question! You can ask about the person she likes, or....or ......anything you wanna know about that person! But....only one question per person, okay?"

Everybody seemed to like Momo's idea. They took an old bottle of whisky that was lying underneath the tree that shaded their tents. They placed the bottle in the middle. Yoji spinned the bottle first. It landed on...........Keigo.

Yoji beamed. "Keigo.....tell me, is your crush among the girls here?"

Keigo blushed. He knew that Yoji knew that he had the biggest crush on Momo. But there was no way he would let the others know. He closed his eyes, trying so hard to stop his face from getting any redder. He gulped and shook his head, eyes still closed.

Yoji narrowed his eyes. "OH really? The girls in here are _very _pretty. Momo, for example! Don't you think so, Keigo? It's a shame that your crush _isn't _here."

Keigo immediately stood up. He clenched his fists, his eyes still shut closed. With all the courage he could muster, he took a deep breath and blurted out, "Okay, I admit it! I like.............I like you, Momo-chan! I really, really like you!"

Yoji shot him a "Congratulations" look and sat down. Keigo sat down as well, while Momo just stared at her fingers, blushing. Next, it was Chad's turn. It landed on Uryu.

"Uryu, is it true that when you were younger, they thought you were a girl so they dressed you up in girl clothes?," Chad asked bluntly.

A vein popped in Uryu's head. "OF COURSE NOT! Where the hell did you get that crazy idea!?"

More secrets were spilled as everybody took a turn. They found out that Chad actually had a girlfriend back in Seventh grade. Not only that, they also found out that Tatsuki was once in a commercial, Inoue once had _accidentally _stole an eraser from the bookstore, Mizuiro _actually _had a girlfriend who was younger than he was, Renji still owns a teddy bear until now, and that Momo _actually _liked Keigo back.

"So...it's your turn, Ichigo!," said Yoji, who still couldn't stop laughing about Keigo and Momo's cute, little love story.

"Hey wait!," interrupted Inoue. "Since Ichigo and Rukia are the only ones who weren't asked a question, why don't we dare them instead?"

"Yeah, that will be awesome!," cried Uryu. The others agreed.

"But that's unfair!," said Rukia, pouting.

"Rukia dear, what's so unfair about that?," asked Inoue, arms flailing.

"Yeah, Rukia. Think of it as.....an opportunity," whispered Momo, giggling.

Rukia grunted and stood up. So did Ichigo. "So what's the dare, then?," Rukia asked, raising an eyebrow. She hoped and prayed with all her heart that they wouldn't suggest for him and her to........

"I know, KISS!!," yelled Mizuiro. "We dare you two to kiss!!!"

Everybody laughed exitedly.

Rukia sweat-dropped. _kiss!? What on earth are these people thinking?, _she thought, sweat-dropping. But deep inside, her heart was pounding nervously. Her heart was leaping with joy....and her mind....it was yelling out his name. She shook her head and tried to shake the thoughts away. "No! That's silly, guys! Why don't you think of another dare?," she said, folding her arms across her chest.

"AWWWWWWWW, don't be like that, Rukia!!! Come on, we want you to kiss Ichigo!," said Keigo, letting out a loud whistle.

"Yeah, Rukia! Go on!," cried Uryu.

Rukia lowered her head. What was she supposed to do!? She and Ichigo were mad at each other! How can she just kiss someone whom she's mad at? She was surprised when a hand gently tapped her shoulder. She turned around to see who it was...It was Ichigo. He gently lifted her face up and he himself leaned closer. Everything inside Rukia seemed to melt. She felt so limp. Her legs were shaking. Her mind was yelling Ichigo's name at her. Her heart, which was beating so loudly, made her feel deaf. _Ichigo.....don't tell me you're really gonna........_

Rukia closed her eyes as she felt Ichigo's lips being pressed to her soft ones. That was it. She felt so hot inside and she wanted so badly to collapse. She felt Ichigo's arm around her. She didn't know why, but at that time, she felt completely.......different.

As soon as they pulled back, everybody let out whoops. Inoue and Momo were winking at each other and the boys clapped as if they were watching some sort of magic show. Rukia lowered her head. She couldn't look at _him. _She couldn't even look at _Renji _and _Tatsuki. _She knew that those two still have a little bit of their anger for her left in their hearts.

The others continued laughing and cooing and making kissy-kissy faces while Rukia and Ichigo just stood in the middle, not sure of what to do. Rukia still couldn't look at him but Ichigo was staring smugly at her. Suddenly, Yoji broke the moment by clapping his hands loudly.

"Okay, everyone. Time to go to sleep."

They all groaned but obediently got inside their tents in pairs. The only ones who didn't were Ichigo and Rukia. They stood in the middle, still not sure what to do. Rukia blinked. She still didn't feel like talking to Ichigo now. But she _did _want to get inside their tent. Her head was already spinning, probably because of the heat awhile ago and she didn't finish neither her lunch nor her dinner. She was about to speak when Ichigo suddenly said, "Oi."

Rukia rolled her eyes, but looked up to face him anyway. Ichigo raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to get inside or not?," he asked, pointing to the tent. Rukia just sighed and turned to go inside the tent when suddenly, she lost her balance and fell, causing her right leg to crash into the huge, fallen tree trunk beside their tent.

"Hey Rukia, are you okay!?," Ichigo asked, his heart suddenly overcame with fear and worry. He rushed to her side and saw that her right leg was bleeding.

"Ichigo....." Rukia called. Now, she _definitely _wasn't feeling well. Ichigo laid her in his arms and saw that her eyes were half-closed. He shook her gently, but her eyes closed shut. He placed his hand on her forehead. "Oh crap, you've got a high fever, Rukia."

He carried her inside the tent and laid her gently on the soft blanket. He took off his own jacket and wrapped it around her small body. He never felt so worried about her. He looked at her bleeding wound. It seemed pretty deep. He took a handkerchief inside Rukia's backpack and wrapped it around her small leg to serve as a bandage.

"I...Ich-igo..."

"What is it, midget?," he asked, looking at her so softly.

Rukia didn't speak. Her throat felt like it was on fire. Ichigo saw her shivering. He looked around inside. No more blankets, no more jackets. He scratched his head irritably. "Darn it, she'll get cold!," he said loudly, frowning. Finally, he decided on one thing. He took a deep breath, laid down beside the shivering, raven-haired girl and pulled her close to him. It was the only thing he could do to keep her warm. Rukia buried her face in his chest while Ichigo tightened his grip around her. "It'll be okay...you'll get better soon," he whispered.

Rukia slowly opened her eyes. She could feel Ichigo hugging her tightly. She felt so safe, so warm, so secure. She could feel herself getting hotter. Her fever was so high that she felt like her head was going to break from so much pain. But when she heard his words, she felt better. She smiled. "Thank you, Ichigo....," she whispered back.

Ichigo gave a soft chuckle. "Look midget, I'm sorry about last night. I didn't really mean to scare you like that."

Rukia closed her eyes. "It's okay...It doesn't matter now."

"Promise me you'll get better, or I'll kill you."

Rukia giggled. "Okay.." She smiled. She didn't know why, but now she knew that it was Ichigo whom she really loved. Now she knew how she really felt. Now she knew whom her heart was beating for. And she wanted to tell him that, but she didn't have the guts to do so. Now it felt so different from when she thought she was in love with Renji. It was completely different.

"Rukia?"

"Hmmm....?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I love you?"

* * *

**XD XD XD!!! Yay, I did it! I did it!! This definitely the longest chapter I've done so far!! Yay!!!!! =D So, what are you guys waiting for!? Hit that review button down there!! Please? It means a lot to me!!**

**Anyway, God bless you all!!! Take care!!! (and don't forget to REVIEW!!! :) haha.)  
**


	16. Together or not?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach...:)**

**Yay! I'm back! Sorry guys!!! I am soooooo sorry! The reason why I didn't update sooner is because of the hectic schedule at school!!! T_T I'm really, really sorry!!! Anyway, I'm really, really thankful to those who are supporting me! Especially Animeluv123..Thank you soo much! You know, I really had no inspiration and i was worrying my head off, thinking about it! Thank you for your support!!! I'm gonna do my best!**

**Anyway, I have a new character in here and she plays the role of Ichigo's grandmother.**

**_Grandma Jiang-- she is half-chinese and half-japanese. Later on, she might have a major role in this story. Grandma Jiang has short, bouncy, brown hair and she wears mostly chinese clothes. Grandma Jiang also wears glasses. She has dark blue eyes._**

**Now that I'm here, let's get it on! :)  
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* * *

**Rukia blinked, not breaking eye contact with Ichigo. Her face was dangerously close to his and it was driving her crazy. His question rang again and again in her ears. _"Would you believe me if I told you I love you?"_

What was she supposed to say? Her heart was beating wildly. She couldn't believe what was happening. Ichigo? Confessing to her? There were some times when the carrot-top showed her signs of his feelings, but Rukia was just confused. She always thought that Ichigo was just showing off. But now....this was completely different. And as million thoughts ran through her mind, _one thought that she never ever wanted to entertain _came floating in her senses. She immediately sat up, a worried look on her face.

"Ichigo...," she began. "We're siblings. How can we be lovers? Don't be such an idiot."

Ichigo calmly sat up, grabbed her by the shoulders and made her face him. "Rukia," he said with a look so serious, "I don't care. I love you and that's all that matters to me. You're the idiot."

Rukia searched his amber eyes. And she found exactly what she was looking for-- the truth. She smiled softly as her eyes became teary. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Ichigo's waist. Ichigo hugged her back tightly. A million thoughts ran through Rukia's mind again. She knew that _this _meant she had a lot to face. But she also knew that she didn't have to face them alone.

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The next morning, everyone woke up early to pack their stuff. As soon as Rukia opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that a humongous hand was lying in front of her face. She didn't need to see whose hand that was. She suddenly sat up and shook her head. Her eyes darted to the snoring carrot-top lying beside her. She rolled her eyes. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a good way to start a morning," she mumbled, getting up. She moved closely to Ichigo's side, placed a hand by her mouth, inched closer to his ear and....

"GOOOOD MOOOORNING, ICHIGOOOO!"

The carrot top was out of the tent in no more than five minutes. Rukia laughed hysterically, unaware of the dagger looks that the carrot-top was sending her. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, YOU MIDGET!?," Ichigo yelled as loud as he could. Rukia stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, you were snoring so loudly, I thought there was an earthquake!"

"Hey, you two! Give it a rest! You can continue your lovers' quarrel once we start walking again," said Yoji, who was peeking out of his tent and yawning.

Rukia looked away and tried to hide her blush, remembering what had happened last night. Ichigo eyed her tomato-like face and smirked. He nudged her. "Lemme guess, you're probably reminiscing what had happened last night, aren't you?"

Rukia shot him a Look. She glared at him, her face turning six shades of deep red. "No, I'm not!"

Ichigo raised his eyebrows, smiling myteriously. "Oh, really?"

Rukia leaped and kicked his head. _BONK! _She stood up straight and marched away slowly. "OWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!"

Rukia smirked. _That _was the response she was expecting.

**7:30 a.m.- time for breakfast**

Everyone gathered near the huge log that they all used as a table. Momo and Keigo were sitting next to each other, and so were Renji and Tatsuki. Rukia, who was busily churning the juice, sat down on a pile of leaves.

"So everyone," spoke Yoji in his leader-like voice, "we're supposed to leave at around 8:15, so hurry up. The bus that we'll ride in will be there in 30 minutes."

"Yes sir!," they chorused, making Yoji grin like a madman.

After finishing breakfast, everyone cleaned up, checked their stuff and got ready to leave. Just when they all started walking, a loud scream filled the air. Everyone's eyes grew wide as they all looked at each other, wondering who that was.

"Rukia!," Ichigo called as he dashed towards the bushes. He searched frantically over here and over there. He still couldn't find her. "Rukia, where are you?," he called, raising his voice. Everyone had followed him and they were now helping each other find the petite, raven-haired girl.

"Rukia!," called Momo.

"Where are you?," joined Orihime.

Five minutes passed by when suddenly, a voice yelled, "I found her!"

Everyone gathered over to where Ichigo was. The petite girl was there, her right leg bleeding. Ichigo took a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped the blood away. He looked at the others with terrified eyes. "She's been bit by a snake."

Uryu, who was a master in nursing, scooted down beside Rukia and examined her leg. The bite wasn't that deep, but he still wasn't sure if poison got inside of her. He looked at Rukia, whose face was as pale as a ghost, then to Ichigo, who wrapped his arms around Rukia.

"Ichigo, I think poison got inside of her," Uryu announced, a worried look on his face. He turned to Rukia. "Don't move, or else the poison might spread."

Ichigo let go of Rukia, kneeled down and leaned forward to her leg. "I'm going to suck it out, then." He placed his fingers on her injured leg, placed his mouth on the wound, sucked the poison, and spit it out. He repeated it seven times. As soon as he was done. he looked up at Rukia.

"Are you okay?"

Rukia shook her head. Her hands were trembling. "I'm feeling a bit weak."

Uryu said, "We'd better get going, Ichigo. We need to bring her to the hospital as soon as possible. The poison might spread any minute."

Ichigo gently picked Rukia up and carried her on his back. Rukia rested her head on his shoulder. The rest took Ichigo and Rukia's stuff and they walked as fast they could. As soon as they reached the bus stop, the bus that was scheduled for them to ride on had arrived just on time and they all rode in.

Rukia rested her head on Ichigo's shoulder. She felt scared, though she really didn't want to admit it. She felt like a part of her was beginning to get paralyzed, but having Ichigo by her side erased all her worries away. She closed her eyes. The last words she heard was her name being called over and over again.

"Rukia...Rukia!"

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* * *

The sound of beeping machines was the first thing Rukia heard as soon as she woke up. Her eyes adjusted to the white colors. She sat up. Where was she? She scanned the room when suddenly, a nurse came in. She had long, black hair and dark eyes. She smiled cheerfully at Rukia. On her name tag was written, Hikari. Rukia smiled back weakly. Now she remembered what had happened. She had been bitten by that snake.

"Miss Rukia, how are you feeling right now?," Hikari asked.

Rukia took a deep breath. "My head hurts," she mumbled, lying back down on the bed. Hikari cheked her dextrose and wrote something on the brown clipboard that she was holding.

"Well, don't worry. You'll be fine soon. After three days, you finally woke up. Thank God," said Hikari, checking Rukia's pulse.

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows. Three days? That long? Woah.

"It's a miracle the doctors prevented the poison to spread. You're such a lucky girl, Rukia."

Rukia smiled. Thank God she didn't die. "Uh...Hikari, where are my parents?," she asked.

"Oh, your mom was here a while ago. I guess she went out to go and eat lunch. Also, a guy called asking how you were doing. His name was...," Hikari said, looking at a list in her clipboard, "Ichigo Kurosaki."

Rukia grinned. Ichigo? Just hearing that carrot-top's name made her feel warm and safe all over again. Hikari noticed it. She narrowed her eyes at the petite patient, a look of suspicion etched in her face. Rukia smiled. "What?"

"I smell something fishy," she said, smiling smugly at Rukia. "Are you and Ichigo....."

"Together?," Rukia said, continuing the question. Hikari nodded. Rukia smiled again. "Yeah," she answered, a faint pink colouring across her cheeks. Hikari grinned. "Thought so."

Hikari stood up and checked her watch. "Well, miss Rukia, I'd better be going now," she said, pointing her thumb out the door. "Still got a lot of patients to go and check up on."

Rukia nodded. "Thanks."

As soon as Hikari went out the door, Rukia sighed. She hoped she could get better soon.

* * *

Ichigo stood outside Rukia's door. What was he going to tell the midget? With a sigh, he turned the knob and went inside. He was surprised to see that the midget was sleeping _with a smile on her face. _Ichigo grinned. An evil though crossed his mind. He took out the rubber snake that he had inside his backpack. He wiggled its tail on Rukia's nose. The midget woke up with sneeze.

"AAAA----CHOOO!"

Rukia looked at him, disbelief in her eyes. As soon as her eyes darted at the rubber snake that the carrot-top was holding and that devilish grin on his face, her eyes turned dim..like the eyes of a girl who wants to take off the butts of those orange-haired people who mess with her.

"AAAAAUUUUGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GET THAT STUPID THING OUT OUTTA HERE, YOU GIANT! OUT! NOW!!"

Ichigo smirked back. He broke into hysterical laughter. Rukia couldn't believe it. He had just scared her off her wits and now he's _laughing? _What an insane carrot-top! Rukia took a deep breath, sat back on her bed and folded her arms across her chest. She had an annoyed look on her face. As soon as Ichigo was done laughing, he sat down on the stool beside Rukia's bed and stared at her.

Rukia gave him a what-do-you-want look. Ichigo looked back at her with puppy eyes. Rukia just scoffed. _How corny! How babyish! How stupid! How...how...how Ichigo-ish! _She looked away, trying sooooo hard not to scream at the oh-so-annoying, bratty carrot-top.

She was shocked when he cupped her chin into his hands and locked eyes with her. Now, they were staring at each other.

_What on earth is Ichigo planning to do?, _Rukia asked herself, a faint blush of pink spreading across her cheeks. Her eyes grew even wider when Ichigo suddenly inched his face closer to hers.

"I-Ichigo...," Rukia mumbled. _What is this devil going to do? _

"Rukia," Ichigo spoke, breathing on her face, "what do you think will happen when our parents find out?"

Rukia looked down at her hands; now their foreheads were resting on each other. _Ichigo's right. What will happen when our parents find out? I'm sure they won't agree. I haven't thought about that...._

"There you go again, off into your own world!," Ichigo said, raising an eyebrow.

Rukia frowned. "You gave me something to think about! It's your fault! Ugh, jeez..."

Ichigo pinched her nose. "But you look like you're analyzing an alien mathematic equation!"

Rukia gritted her teeth. _Nice insult. _"Oh really, huh!? Well, if only a certain giant doesn't go around planting ideas on my poor, little head, then I wouldn't have to look like an alien!," Rukia blurted out, pouting.

Then, with a soft, swift movement, Ichigo leaned forward and crashed his lips with hers. Rukia's eyes grew wide for a moment as she adjusted herself to the situation, then she closed them. It seemed like forever when Ichigo suddenly pulled back and smiled smugly. Rukia could still feel his lips on hers.

"Ya don't have to think about it so seriously, midget. It's alright. Trust me," he said.

Rukia looked straight into his eyes. What does he have that made her love him so much? What made her fall so deep for him? What made her....believe him?

Ichigo set down his backpack on the side table and took out a pink box. It had a ribbon on it and there was a note. Ichigo handed the box to her and stood up. "I'm gonna get us some drinks, okay? Open it," he said, pointing to the mysterious, pink box. Then, he went out the door.

"What could this be?," Rukia thought aloud, eyeing the box suspiciously. What if this was one of that carrot-top's mean pranks again? Could it be that this was such a mean prank that he really had to go outside just to pull it? She let out a small laugh. She finally decided on one thing. "I am so not going to open this freaking box."

* * *

Ichigo walked slowly down the stairs and into where the vending machines were located. As soon as he placed 20 yen inside the machine, he was surprised to see an old woman standing next to him. His eyes grew wide. It was none other than his Grandma Jiang. The old lady caught him looking at her. She herself was surprised too. As soon as she recognized who that young, handsome boy was, she grinned and wrapped her arms around him. Ichigo smiled and wrapped his arms around his grandma too.

"You're a grown-up now," Grandma Jiang excalimed, smiling fondly at him.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, Grandma. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

Grandma Jiang smiled. "Oh, I came here because Byakuya said his daughter was confined in here! Where is she, son?"

Ichigo immediately took the drinks and stood up. _The thought_ ran through his mind again. "I'll take you there, grandma."

As soon as Ichigo and Grandma Jiang entered the room, Rukia was shocked to see that Ichigo has also brought along a visitor--not knowing that she was his, no, _their _grandmother. The old lady immediately ran to Rukia's side and patted her back softly.

"Are you okay, my dear?," asked Grandma Jiang.

Rukia looked at her, puzzled. _Who is this old lady? _

Grandma Jiang, noticing that Rukia looked a little bit confused, smiled warmly. "Oh, sorry, my dear. I'm Grandma Jiang. Now, I'm your grandmother too. Sorry for not introducing myself, dear. I know you. You're Rukia Kuchiki. Byakuya already told me about you. Later on, he and Hisana will come here."

Rukia nodded. So she was Ichigo's grandmother. She seemed very nice.

"Anyway, I'll be downstairs for awhile okay? i'm helping a young boy, you see. Call me when you need me," she said, standing up and going out the door.

Rukia looked at Ichigo and smiled. "Hey, I didn't know you had a grandmother. Why didn't you tell me?"

Ichigo scoffed and handed Rukia the Coke. "Well, you didn't ask me!"

Rukia opened the Coke and rolled her eyes. _What an impossible guy. _"Whatever," she said, taking a sip of her drink. Ichigo, who sat down at the chair he sat on before, noticed that the raven-haired midget still hadn't opened the box. He gave her a look and pointed at the box.

"Why hadn't you opened it yet?," he asked.

Rukia shrugged and raised an eyebrow. "You see, it's hard to trust somebody who pulls pranks on you, like, everyday. I was thinking maybe this prank," she said, pointing directly to the pink box, "is way too mean that you had to go out just to be able to pull it off."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. _Girls. _He took the box and opened it himself. Rukia gave him a satisfied smile. As soon as Ichigo was done with the final wrap, Rukia took a closer look at what was inside. She was surprised to see a rather, strange-looking mitten. She took the mitten from Ichigo's hands. She eyed it carefully. There was _only one _mitten. Then, a part of the mitten seemed to be huge and a part of it seemed pretty small.

Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Ichigo, I know this isn't a prank. So what is it?"

Ichigo sweat-dropped. Just how stupid can midgets get? He rolled his eyes, took Rukia's hand and placed it inside the small part of the mitten. It fit her perfectly. Rukia still didn't get it. Next, Ichigo placed his own hand inside and squeezed Rukia's hand gently. Rukia;s eyes grew wide as her lips formed a smile.

"Now I get it!," she exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "This mitten was made for hand-holding!"

Ichigo was kinda right, though. He smiled as he firmly held her hand inside. He looked at Rukia's eyes. Rukia looked back at him. And it didn't take seconds for her to realize how strong the beating of her heart was. It was pounding like a madman. She wanted to explode. _She loved him. She loved him so much and now she was only afraid of one thing...._

"What do you think will happen if our parents find out?"

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_She was only afraid of losing him._

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_**Yee!!!****I did it! Yay..Yoohoo! Yahoo! Yipee! I'm done! Anyway, I hope I satisfied you with this one! If not, tell me! I'll do my best, think hard and update as fast as I could! Thank you so much for showing me how much you support my story! It really means a lot to me, you know...**

**Anyway, God bless you! I love you all! Take care.!!!**

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**AND PLEASE REVIEW!! :))  
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	17. Understanding

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.!! **

**Ü Hi everyone!! I'm back again! Woohoohoo!! Maybe this month I'll be able to write more for this fic! See, we just had our graduation this March 29, 2009. YAY! I'm going to college!! I can't believe it!I wonder what's it like to go to college when you're fourteen?**

**.oh well, anyway, I'm gonna start writing now.!**

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* * *

**Ichigo looked outside the window, his eyes blinking as he tried hard not to fall asleep. He couldn't believe how annoyingly boring it is to be in a hospital with a sleeping raven-haired midget. Shortly after his grandmother had left, Rukia finished off her Coke and fell asleep. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the thought. She was the only person he knew who fell asleep after drinking a can of Coke.

_I thought Coke makes people enthusiastic and lively, not freakin' sleepy....but then, why am I feeling sleepy too? Jeezz...I guess we were both probably tired out of our butts..._

The instant he closed his eyes and gave in to sleep, a loud knock came at the door. Ichigo angrily opened his eyes, groggily stood up, and opened the door. "H-WHAT!?"

Bright purple eyes and a broad grin greeted his scowling face. "Hi, Ichigo!," said Hisana in a super-duper enthusiastic voice. Byakuya, who was standing behind her, was carrying a huge bag of....confetti? Ichigo eyed the confetti and then Byakuya. He raised an eyebrow.

Hisana patted Ichigo's head and said in a hushed voice, "Ichi, we're planning to surprise your sister. The nurse called and said that she already woke up! Anyway, thanks for taking care of her!"

Ichigo smiled softly at Hisana, her violet orbs reminding him of Rukia's gentle ones. He opened the door widely and let Hisana and Byakuya in.

Hisana slowly walked towards the sleeping raven-haired girl. She sat down beside her bed and stared at her daughter softly. She gently placed her hand onto Rukia's soft hair as the raven-haired teen slowly blinked her eyes open. "M-mom?," she asked, sitting up. Hisana smiled and gave Rukia a bear hug. Rukia smiled as she hugged her mother back. What a comfort it was to have her by her side.

"How are you feeling?," Hisana asked. Rukia smiled. "Pretty fine! I know I'm gonna get well soon!" Her eyes darted towards Byakuya who was......

BOOM! Confetti fell all over the place!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!

Rukia, Hisana, and Ichigo all sweat-dropped. The whole place was covered in different colors of confetti. Byakuya grinned at Rukia. "Happy Recovering, Ruki-chan!" Rukia forced a smile. "Thanks, uncle."

"Actually, I have more here. Let's see, there are even firewor--"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO," screamed Hisana, Rukia, and Ichigo all at once. They weren't in for more explosions.

Byakuya shrugged and put the plastic bag down. Hisana, who was smiling smugly, reached down into her blazer's pocket and pulled out a small container of Choco Baby. It was Rukia's favorite chocolate. Rukia's eyes gleamed at the sight of it. "Mom, is that for me?"

Hisana shrugged. "I don't think so...," she said, handing the chocolate to Ichigo, who stuck his tongue out at Rukia. Rukia glared at him. But Hisana reached once again into her pocket, pretending to find something. "Hmmmm....I think I have..."

Rukia's eyes were hopeful. It had been so long ever since she last touched her favorite chocolate.

"TADA!!! I have BIG Choco for you, Rukia!"

Rukia sweat-dropped as she took the chocolate. Well, she could just pretend that Big Choco was a mature version of Choco Baby. "Thanks, Mom," she said as she popped a piece into her mouth. "Choco Baby's for babies, anyway," she said, sticking her tongue out back at Ichigo.

A vein popped in Ichigo's head. _What the hell!? BABIES!? _

"Who the heck are you calling a baby, midget?," he spat out. Rukia furrowed her eyebrows, pretending to think.

"Who the heck are you calling a baby, midget?," Rukia copied him in a baby-like voice.

Ichigo growled. "You shut your _baby _mouth, midget!"

"You shut _your _baby mouth, midget!," Rukia copied him again, desperately wanting to annoy him.

Ichigo was about to scream, but decided to hold it in. That annoying, purple-eyed midget would just probably copy him and annoy him even more. _You're gonna get it later, midget. Just. You. Wait._

Rukia grinned triumphantly, popping another piece of Big choco into her mouth. Suddenly, the door opened and in came a very tired-looking Grandma Jiang. Hisana suddenly stood up and kindly greeted the old woman, ushering her to sit on a stool.

Grandma Jiang took a deep breath and used her hand to fan herself. "How come you look so tired, mom?," asked Byakuya, turning the airconditioner to a lower temperature, making the room cooler.

Grandma Jiang smiled. "Well, I had my luggage delivered to your house 'cause I decided to move in."

All eyes shot wide open. "MOVE IN!?," they chorused.

Grandma Jiang laughed. "Ah, no. I just thought that, since I have a lot of free time, I'd come visit you guys so I'd be able to meet your new family, Byakuya."

Byakuya smiled. "Well, that's nice of you, mom. How long will you be staying?"

"Just for three days. I think I actually came at the right time. I can help take care of Rukia-chan," said Grandma Jiang, smiling warmly at Rukia.

Rukia smiled back. _What a nice grandmother,_ she thought. "Thank you."

"That's really nice of you, Mrs. Kuchiki," Hisana gratefully said.

Grandma Jiang smiled. "Oh please, just call me Grandma! _You _are Mrs. Kuchiki!"

Hisana smiled shyly, flattered by the old woman. Grandma Jiang looked at the raven-haired girl on the bed, with the carrot-top sitting beside her. "My, my...what sweet, little darlings! You sure know how to take care of your little sister, huh, Ichigo?," she said, approaching them and ruffling Ichigo's hair. Ichigo nodded, not meeting his grandmother's eyes.

"Oh my! I just remembered!," spoke Byakuya, standing up, "we've got tons of work to do at the office today! I'd better hurry!" Turning to Rukia and Ichigo, he said, "You guys better be good to Grandma Jiang, okay?"

The two nodded, while Hisana also stood up. "I guess I'd better go too! I have tons of deliveries to make today! And also....thank you, Grandma Jiang for volunteering to help take care of Rukia!," she said, flashing the old woman a grateful smile.

Grandma Jiang smiled back. "It's my pleasure, Hisana. Good luck with work today!"

As soon as the two had left, Ichigo suddenly realized that he had loads of homework to do. Not to mention a bunch of projects and reports, notes and a whole lot of research papers that he had to submit the day after tomorrow. After saying a quick goodbye to Rukia and Grandma Jiang, the carrot-top left the room immediately.

Since they were the only ones left in the room, Rukia decided to get to know his, er, _their _grandma better.

"Um, would you like some chocolates, grandma Jiang?," she asked, hoping she could start a good conversation. Grandma Jiang smiled at her. "Oh, I'm afraid I don't have a sweet tooth for those anymore, my dear, but I guess a piece wouldn't hurt."

She took a chocolate from the Big Choco container and popped it into her mouth. "Mmm, delicious!," she exclaimed. "Back when I was your age, I loved chocolate. I even made some and sold it to everyone."

Rukia's eyes gleamed. She could make chocolate!? Amazing! She suddenly sweat-dropped when she thought about her own cooking....

"How about you?"

_Oh boy...my cooking!? Her eyes might turn all white when she sees me frying eggs! _"Umm...uh, not bad!," she said, smiling her school-girl smile.

"Oh! I just remembered...," Grandma Jiang said, taking out an album from her shoulder bag, "I have this photo album here that I want to show Ichigo! But, since he's not around, I guess I should just show it to you, then!"

Rukia watched as the old woman pulled out a very colorful photo album. "Here," she said, flipping to a page where Rukia was shocked to see a very beautiful girl. "Wow...," she breathed. _How can someone be so beautiful as this? _The girl in the picture had beautiful, silky, violet hair and bright, yellow eyes. She was indeed radiant."Who is she, Grandma Jiang?," she asked.

"She..."

_Wait a minute, I don't have a good feeling about this. Could she be......._

"..is the girl I want my Ichigo to marry."

* * *

A week after Rukia's stay in the hospital, something about her talk with Grandma Jiang deeply bothered her. As she laid on her bed that cold, Saturday night, she couldn't help thinking again about what Grandma Jiang told her.

_"She is the girl I want my Ichigo to marry. Her name is Senna. Isn't she beautiful?"_

_"Uh...yeah."_

_"I don't want Ichigo to belong to any other girl except Senna...."_

_..._

_.._

_.  
_

_"Tell me, Rukia. How much do you know Ichigo? _

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Rukia sighed. Grandma Jiang had a point. How _much _did she know Ichigo, anyway? Did she know him enough to say that she loves him? Does she know him and can understand him enough to be his girlfriend? All these thoughts flooded Rukia's mind as she tried to come up with an answer. She was so unsure of herself. Why hadn't she thought of it before? Can she really prove to him that her feelings were real, and not just based on emotions?

A knock on the door disrupted Rukia's thoughts. She stood up and opened it. She was surprised to see the carrot-top in front of her.

"Ah, Ichigo."

Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. "What's with the depressed look, midget? Baffled by too much homework?"

_Is there somebody who can understand him better than I can?_

"Uh...uh- no." Rukia looked away, pretending to be annoyed.

Ichigo took her chin into his hands and looked her straight in the eyes. "What's up with that, Rukia? I can tell you have a problem."

_Oh no...please, please. God, make a miracle happen...._

Ring. Ring. Ring. Rukia suddenly freed her face from Ichigo's grasp and went to pick up her cellphone, a sigh of relief escaping her mouth.

"Uh, hello? Oh, Inoue. What's wrong? Oh, I see. Is that so? Okay then."

As soon as she hung up, she went directly to her closet, rummaging to find a nice, thick sweater.

"Huh? You goin' out?," Ichigo asked, entering her room.

Rukia carelessly put on her sweater and then her boots. "Mm," came her reply. As she reached the doorway, she was surprised to feel Ichigo's hand grab hers. Her violet eyes grew wide as her heart pumped furiously. What did he want now? Didn't he know that making her feel that way was only gonna make things worse?

"Midget, look. If something's bothering you...it's...it's okay to tell me, ya know. You don't have to keep it all to yourself. I'm always here for you....even if you don't need me." Ichigo's eyes were filled with so much care for her.

Rukia lowered her head. What's up with him? All of a sudden, he became so gentle. All of a sudden, he touched her heart so deeply that she felt like she was going to give in. She slowly shook her head, those awful thoughts flooding her mind again. "Mm. Thanks."

With that, she walked downstairs and went out the door. Inoue didn't really invite her to go out or something. She lied to Ichigo. Inoue was just asking how she was doing. But she knew she really needed some time off. She needed to take a break. She needed to understand _everything. _

As she walked down the snowy path, she looked at her surroundings. What month was it? November. Time flew by so fast that she didn't notice it was already wintertime. Christmas is coming soon. She wondered, _When will Grandma Jiang finally decide to let Ichigo meet Senna? Will Ichigo be happy? Will he accept her? Will he--_

"No!," she yelled out loud. She just couldn't bear the thought of Ichigo leaving her. She knew it was rather selfish. But what can she do? She loved him, as much as she hated to admit it. She loved him so much.

She walked toward a nearby park bench and sat down, her small body shivering in the cold. She blew air onto her fingers and rubbed them against one another. She didn't think it would be this cold. She stared down at her feet, a frown in her face. _Why...._

"Hey."

Rukia looked up, surprised at what she had seen. _Huh? What is she doing here?_

"Can I take up some of your time?"

* * *

Ichigo sat in his bed, facing the window. His curtains had been pulled to the side so he can see the piles of snow outside the house.

_Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. "What's with the depressed look, midget? Baffled by too much homework?"_

_"Uh...uh- no." Rukia looked away, pretending to be annoyed._

_Ichigo took her chin into his hands and looked her straight in the eyes. "What's up with that, Rukia? I can tell you have a problem."_

_...._

_.._

_._

_"Midget, look. If something's bothering you...it's...it's okay to tell me, ya know. You don't have to keep it all to yourself. I'm always here for you....even if you don't need me." Ichigo's eyes were filled with so much care for her._

_"Mm. Thanks." With that, she walked downstairs and went out the door._

Ichigo sighed. What could be up with that midget anyway? Not knowing what to do, he decided to call Yoji.

"Hello?," came a groggy answer.

"What the--? It's just 7:00 in the night, and you're already asleep? Unbelievable!"

"Well, I can't help it. I'm tired! Anyway, what's up?"

"Not much."

"What!? You called just to wake me up?"

Ichigo laughed. "No."

"Then what?"

"Hey, if your girl's been slightly avoiding you, what would you do?"

"What do you mean _slightly _avoiding?"

Ichigo scratched his head, thinking of a better explanation. "Well, when she's not acting like her usual self. You know...when she's...sorta quiet that usual, or something like that..."

Yoji burst into a fit of laughter. "You really can't explain to save your life, can't you?"

A nerve popped in Ichigo's head. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Haha! No, no..," Yoji stopped laughing. "Hmm...what to do?"

"Yeah, what should I do?"

"Maybe you should try to comfort her. Did something bad happen?"

"Uh...no. I don't even know why she's acting that way!" A thought suddenly struck Ichigo's head. "Wait a minute! Do you think that...someone's hurting her? Or blackmailing her?"

"Ichigo, don't jump to conclusions. Ask her, Ichigo. Maybe she just isn't ready to tell you right now. Give her some space. Maybe she'll tell you soon enough."

"I'm worried..."

"You really do love her, don't you?"

A blush crept across Ichigo's face.

"Haha! Idiot! I can tell you're blushing!"

"Shut up! Anyway, I gotta go."

"Fine! Night, pal."

"Thanks."

* * *

Rukia wrapped her small hands around the warm cup of coffee in front of her. She didn't know she would end up in this cafe with....

Tatsuki, who was sitting across her, had a serious look in her face. Rukia took a deep breath. "Tatsuki, I..."

"Look, Rukia," Tatsuki began, looking straight into her eyes. "I hope you can forgive....what I did to you. Although for other people, it may be an unforgivable act."

=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.

_She was surprised when a tall figure blocked her way. The figure dragged her away near the staircase and dropped her like a piece of trash. Rukia glared at the woman. "It's you again! What do you want with me?"_

_Tatsuki folded her arms across her chest and said, "Why are you still hanging around Prince? Didn't I return the love letter to you? What's your excuse now? Why are you still clinging onto Prince?"_

_Rukia slowly sat up. "Love letter?"_

_Tatsuki was getting pissed off. "The one you wrote to the basketball captain! I even posted it on the bulletin board for you! I thought it'd help you, but why are you still hanging around Prince?"_

_Rukia instantly remembered that day. That awful day when she was humiliated in front of the whole school. __So Ichigo...Ichigo was innocent! _She looked up at Tatsuki with narrowed eyes. "You're pretty mean!," she yelled at her. Tatsuki smiled mischievously. "Really? You're wrong," she said, scooting down to Rukia's level, "Since we don't know each other pretty well, I'll let you know...I'm worse than you think."

_Rukia glared at her again. "What do you want?"_

_Tatsuki looked at her two classmates, who were behind her. One of them, Chizuru, took out a rope and began tying Rukia's hands at her back. Rukia struggled, but her small physique made it only worse. "Let go!"_

_"Shut up!," Chizuru yelled. Tatsuki lit up a lighter. Rukia heard the scraping sound and she knew immediately what it was. She slowly lifted her head up and met Tatsuki's piercing gaze. Tatsuki smiled at her and said, "If I set your hair on fire, what do you think will happen?"_

_=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=._

Tatsuki added, "But if you want to hate, then hate me!"

Rukia suddenly shook her head. "Tatsuki, I never blamed you. I know how you feel. You...just used the wrong method."

"Stop pretending to be a nice person," Tatsuki retorted, narrowing her eyes.

"I really think this way! I don't blame you, Tatsuki. And besides, I think hating a person is very tiresome."

"Tiresome?," Tatsuki asked, then lowered her head. "I guess...you're right."

Then she added, "Why should I be this tired? Always hating, always loving..."

_Tatsuki..._

"You know, it's been already five years," Tatsuki continued. "Five years since I started loving him. And..."

_Tatsuki.._

"I will continue loving him for five years more. And then another five."

_Oh no...I'm going to break down. _A single tear made its way down Rukia's cheek.

"I'm sure...that I will always love him. But now, I will love him using the right method."

_In this moment, Tatsuki looks so stunning. Is it because of her confidence? Her determination? _Rukia closed her eyes, trying to control her tears.

Tatsuki stood up, trying to control her own tears as well. "Why are you crying? I'm not pathetic for others to pity me!"

Rukia rubbed her eyes. "I'm just touched."

Tatsuki's tears started falling. "Touched? Don't you know how embarrassing it is to cry in public?"

Rukia's eyes grew wide. This was the first time she has ever seen Tatsuki cry like this. She took out her handkerchief and handed it to the dark-haired woman. "Tatsuki, here. Dry your tears."

Tatsuki hesistated before taking the hanky, but took it anyway. "You're annoying."

And with all her heart, Tatsuki cried eveything out. Rukia just stood by her side and dried her own tears as well. She didn't know that such a situation could make her cry. She was known for being so strong.

_I know that the same thing might happen again. We'll get hurt over and over. But this time, we'll be more caring and stronger. And then, we'll be able to move forward..._

"If you tell anyone about this, you're dead!," Tatsuki said.

"No, I won't! I promise."

_I understand..._

_

* * *

_

"I know all about her and my Ichigo..."

* * *

**Yay! It's finally finished! Woohoohoo! Anyway, thanks to those who are continually supporting me and my story! Ü I'm am so grateful to all of you! You guys inspire me! **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! And please REVIEW!!! I'll update again! **

**~RaiChia~  
**


	18. Unkown Double Date!

**Disclaimer: Wahaha! Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite!Ü not me...  
**

**Yey! I am so happy, especially after posting chapter 17 of DBY! It felt like a really huge boulder was lifted off my shoulders! Whew..!! Well, here I am, with another boulder, but hey, it is fun to work on lifting it, right!? Anyway, thank you so much to those who reviewed! No kindness goes unrewarded!!! I'm so, so thankful to all of you! You guys cheer me up! Huhuhuhu...I'm so touched. (Wahahahaha!)**

**Anyway, here is Chapter 18! Enjoy...**

**~RaiChia~**

**

* * *

**Tit-it-it-it-it. Tit-it-it-it-it-it.

Rukia groggily opened her eyes. What day was it today? Sunday! She suddenly felt a rush of energy through her veins as she stood up._ Sunday_,_ finally! I've been waiting for this day all week long! Woohoohoo!!! Sun, sun, here I come!_

She opened the curtains, revealing a...dreary, gray sky and no sun at all.

Rukia's jaw dropped open. Oh well, it was wintertime. Jeez, what was she expecting? Brushing away all the disappointed thoughts, she quickly made her bed and headed downstairs, hoping she could help uncle with the cooking. As soon as she got down, she headed straight to the kitchen.

And was surprised to see....

"Good morning, Rukia!"

"...Good morning, Grandma Jiang..," she replied, her eyes not meeting the old lady's.

Byakuya, who was rummaging in a cupboard, finally showed his face. "Oh, Ruki-ruki! You're awake! Are you hungry already?"

Rukia forced a smile and shook her head. "I...thought maybe I could help with the cooking, uncle."

"Oh, that's no problem, Ruki-ruki. I'm already done! I'm just looking for a cup of sugar in here," Byakuya said, pointing to the cupboard.

Rukia went to the table, shocked by the different kinds of foods and at least three pitchers of different drinks. It was enough to feed an army! _Woah...uncle really has a passion for cooking, doesn't he?_

"Ohayo," came a groggy voice behind her. She turned around, eyes suddenly growing wide. "Oha--"

Ichigo. "--yo," she continued. She decided to step away. _Idiot! Rukia, what do you think you're doing? You're avoiding him for no reason? What's up with you?_

Ichigo sat on one end of the table as Rukia sat on the other end. She kept her gaze down, afraid that she might meet with Ichigo's interrogative ones.

_afraid? Why am I afraid to meet his gaze? What on earth is up with me?_

After breakfast, Rukia headed straight to her room. Oh well, something tells her it's not going to be easy.

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Inoue waited nervously at the park bench. Oh boy, was it cold! She rubbed her hands against each other in attempt to warm them. "Oh my...I should've brought my gloves. I never thought it would be this cold," she said, looking at the mountains of snow around her.

She suddenly heard her cellphone ring. She rolled her eyes as she answered it. "Hello?," she said it like she's always said it.

"Uh...Inoue-san?"

_Uh-oh. Instant heart thumps. _"Uryu-kun! Uh, where are you?"

"I'm here..."

"Huh? Where?"

"Behind you."

Inoue put her phone down and looked behind her. He couldn't believe it. He was there, standing beside his motorcycle waving at her. Inoue smiled as she approached him.

"Hi there," Uryu greeted.

Inoue smiled, trying to hide her blush. "Uh...hi too." _Why am I feeling nervous all of a sudden? Come on, girl. Let's get it on!_

"Hop in, Inoue!," Uryu said, as he himself sat in his motorcycle. Inoue smiled as she slowly took her seat behind him. Uryu handed her a helmet. "Here. I don't want you to get hurt."

Inoue blushed. "Uh, thanks, Uryu."

As soon as Uryu started the engine, Inoue held onto his waist, as her blush grew deeper. She had never been this close to him before. She was even surprised that he asked her out.

&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.

_Uryu played with his fingers. He was nervous, he was DEAD nervous. He knew that this was the only chance he had. And he'd better ask her now, or never. As he waited for the auburn-haired girl to come out of the classroom, he took a deep breath and said a small prayer. _

_Her footsteps. This. Was. It. She was coming! She was coming outside. _

_"Okay, Uryu, you know what to do," he told himself. He quickly approached her, but his excitement caused trouble. He knocked the long-haired girl down, causing the pile of books she was carrying to fly all over the place....and her...in his arms._

_"Uh...I'm so sorry. Are you okay, Inoue-san?," Uryu asked, gently letting go of the auburn-haired girl._

_Inoue nodded. "Yeah, but you'd better be careful next time, okay?," she said, brushing off dirt from her pants and scooting down to pick the books up. Uryu helped her. As he handed the other books to her, Inoue flashed him a grateful smile. "Thanks!"_

_Uryu blushed. Inside of him was a voice yelling for him to speak up. Just as Inoue turned to leave, Uryu gathered all of the remaining courage inside of him and took a deep breath. "Uh...Inoue-san!"_

_Inoue looked back. "Huh? What is it? Have I left something?"_

_Uryu shook his head. "No..it's just..."_

_Inoue cocked her head. "What?_

_"Will you...will you please goonadatewithme?"_

_Inoue gave a soft chuckle. "Hey, I actually understood that!"_

_Her friendly attitude made Uryu feel at ease. "Sure," she said. "When, then?"_

_"When will you be available?"_

_"Sunday, 10 am."_

_"Sunday, then."_

&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.

Inoue smiled to herself. She felt somehow strange, going on a date. And this was her _first _date too. She closed her eyes. She'd better not mess this one up.

"Hey, Uryu!," she spoke. "Where are we going?"

"To someplace nice!"

Inoue had a puzzled look on her face. "Mmm...whatever, but you'd better make sure it is really _someplace nice_, okay?"

"Definitely."

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"Rukia-chan," came a voice through the door. Rukia sighed and opened the door.

"Mom. What is it?," she asked, her face barely showing an emotion.

Hisana gave her a puzzled look. "Hey, dear, what's wrong with you? You're not your usual self. Aren't you feeling well today?," she asked, touching Rukia's forehead. Rukia shook her head. "I...I'm fine, mom. It's just the weather..."

Hisana smiled. "I see. Well, I came here to tell you that your uncle Byakuya and I wanted to take you and Ichigo to a nice place! We're taking Grandma Jiang with us. It'll be a nice family bonding, don't you think so?"

Rukia forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah."

"Will you be ready in twenty minutes?"

Rukia nodded, pretending to be somewhat excited.

"Okay, then. I'll tell Ichi to get ready too," said Hisana excitedly, heading out the door.

* * *

As soon as everyone entered the car, Byakuya began to drive. Rukia sighed and looked out the window. She was definitely right. It won't be easy at all. A whole day with the family means a whole day of trying to avoid Ichigo, which she was sure she would fail in doing so. But she would still try her best. _Deep inside me, I feel like...something's really wrong in here. Could it be that...Grandma Jiang knows all about us? Could it be that she's trying to keep us away from each other? _Rukia shook her head. _No, that's totally impossible. Grandma Jiang wouldn't do something like that. I know she won't...._

"Oi, Rukia. What's with the silence?," Ichigo, who was sitting beside her, asked.

Rukia looked at him. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Ichigo sweat-dropped. _She's out of her mind. _"No, nevermind."

The ride to the amusement park was pure silence. Ichigo definitely was pissed off. As soon as they all got off the car, Ichigo went up to Byakuya and Hisana. "Dad, auntie, I'm gonna go ride the ferris wheel."

With that, he left without a word. Rukia, who noticed the unusual loneliness in his face went up and followed him. "Hey, Ichigo!"

She ran as fast as she could. And when she reached him, she wrapped her arms around him. So tight, like she didn't want to let go. Ichigo lowered his head.

"Ichigo, I--"

"Why were you avoiding me, huh? Why?," he asked, his voice so calm.

Rukia clenched her fists. No, she wasn't ready to tell him yet. She decided to take a deep breath. "Something...is bothering me, Ichigo. But I--I'm still not ready to let you know about it."

She closed her eyes. There. She finally let it out. Even if she didn't tell him the real reason behind it all, somehow, just having him by her side brought so much comfort to her. She was sure Ichigo wouldn't accept that as an explanation, but that was the best she could do. She knew she would only make things worse if she told Ichigo about Senna, and what Grandma Jiang told her.

"Rukia...," Ichigo began. He took her hands off of him and turned around to face her.

Rukia looked at him intently. _Is he gonna get mad? Will he yell at me? Will he ignore what I just said? Will he--_

Rukia was startled when Ichigo suddenly pulled her head into his chest. A faint pink blush spread across her cheeks. He slowly wrapped his arms around her.

"Ichigo?"

"Baka. Do you think I would accept that as an explanation?"

"But--" Rukia lowered her head. No, she can't tell him about it. Now isn't the right time. And that isn't the right place.

Ichigo hugged her tighter. "But what? That's the best you can do, right? You really are an idiot."

"Huh?"

"Didn't I tell you...that you can tell me about anything? You may not be ready right now, but when you are...go ahead and blabber to me everything about it. You hear?"

Rukia closed her eyes as she rested her head on his chest. _He feels so warm..._"Thank you...Ichigo."

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"Uryu? Hey, wait for me!" Inoue stumbled on a small rock. "Aaaugh! ooomph!"

Uryu looked at his back, startled by the strange noise. "Huh? Inoue-san? Where are you?"

"I'm here, doofus!," Inoue yelled, standing up. "Didn't I tell you to wait for me? Sheesh. Now, look at me! I'm hideous! Getting all snowy and wet in front of you..." Inoue pouted. She knew it was all her fault, for wearing such boots that she was uncomfortable with.

"I'm sorry, Inoue-san," Uryu said calmly, walking towards her. Inoue still pouted and turned the other when Uryu touched her shoulder.

"You'd better pay back!"

Uryu smiled. "Okay, I will. Come on, we're almost there," he said, taking her hand. Inoue's eyes grew wide. _This guy...he's confusing me so much!_

.....

....

...

..

.

"Ready?"

Inoue nodded.

"Okay, I'm gonna take this off right now."

Inoue nodded again.

Uryu slowly took off the handkerchief that he used to cover Inoue's eyes. Inoue couldn't believe it. The Amusement Park!

"So, do you like it?," Uryu asked, smiling warmly at her.

Inoue nodded and beamed. "Are you kidding? It's been ages since I last visited this place! Come on, let's go, Uryu-kun!," she said, taking his hand and running off.

"Look, the ferris wheel!," Inoue pointed, her eyes gleaming at the sight of the humongous ride. Uryu smiled. "Huge, isn't it? Come on, let's go in!"

As the two waited in line to get their ferris wheel tickets, Inoue looked around the place. This was the first time she has been on a carnival during wintertime. In truth, she really hated snow. When wintertime arrives, everything loses its color. Leaves fall off trees, grass is covered by a pile of white stuff, and even the bright, blue sky that she loved so much becomes so dreary and gray.

"Uryu..," she whispered.

"Huh? What is it, Inoue-san?"

Inoue looked down at her foot and shook her head. "Um...nothing. Oh! It's our turn already!" Inoue walked forward, followed by Uryu. Together, they took the tickets and entered one of the circular stuff in the ferris wheel. As soon as the door was closed and the Wheel started spinning, Inue looked outside the window.

"Look, Uryu! The people are becoming smaller and smaller! Just like ants!," she exclaimed, pointing down.

Uryu was shocked when the auburn-haired girl suddenly buried her face on his shoulder. Uryu looked down at her. "What's the matter, Inoue-san?"

"I'm afraid...," she whispered. "I'm scared up here, Uryu..."

Uryu wrapped an arm around her. "You mean...you've never ridden one before?"

Inoue shook her head, not looking up from Uryu's shoulder. "Before, I only used to ride the small rides. The train, the Carousel...and then after that, I'd stop. I was afraid of heights..."

"Inoue-san...look."

"No, I don't want to!" The auburn-haired girl clung to him tighter.

"Sometimes...you gotta try and face your fears. They won't go away unless you fight them off. Inoue, I'm right here...Just right here....," he whispered, hoping to calm her down.

Slowly, Inoue lifted her head up. What could it be that Uryu wanted her so badly to see? Her eyes remained closed as she gulped. _I don't want to see...I don't want to..._

_"Inoue, I'm right here...Just right here..."_

The moment Inoue opened her eyes, what she saw shocked her so deeply. It felt like her breath was taken away. Outside the window, were a bunch of beautiful snowflakes. The falling snow outside made it look like she was in a different place...a paradise.

"See? It wasn't so bad, was it?," Uryu said, taking Inoue's hands into his.

Inoue shook her head and smiled. "Uryu," she said, looking back at him. "Thanks." All she could to was wrap her arms around him.

Uryu hugged her back. "You're welcome..."

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Rukia laid her head on Ichigo's shoulder. Boy, riding the Ferris Wheel was making her feel sleepy. She closed her eyes until she suddenly felt _someone _pinch her nose.

"OW!" Rukia rubbed her sore nose. What the heck!?

Ichigo, who was sitting beside her, was laughing so hard that there were tears forming at the edge of his eyes. Rukia shot him a death glare. "What do you want, you devil!? What's the big idea pinching my nose, huh?," she yelled, suddenly kicking his shin.

"Ye-OUCH! Now, you've done it, midget!," he yelled, shooting her back with a more deadly-looking death glare. But, of course, Rukia wouldn't dare lose to a carrot-top. She leaned closer and gave him a if-looks-could-kill kind of look.

"Oh yeah?," Ichigo said arrogantly, leaning closer.

"Oh yeah?" No, no. Rukia wasn't gonna be beaten in a death glare match.

"Well, yeah?" Ichigo added, leaning more closer. Rukia glared and was about to lean closer until...

...she suddenly realized how close they were.

"Uh...now what?," she asked, turning furiously red. She hadn't expected it. She looked down, trying to hide her deep red cheeks, when she suddenly felt Ichigo's forehead link with hers. Amber met Violet. Rukia studied his eyes, and what they held.

_Is there somebody else who can understand him better than I can?_

There were those questions again. Everything...everything that she and Grandma Jiang talked about was swimming in her mind. And it was hurting her so much to think that way. She didn't know how to act. Heck, she didn't even know where she belonged in this situation. She didn't know _what to do..._

"Hey..."

Rukia's thoughts were interrupted as snapped to reality. "H-huh? What is it?"

_Ichigo.._

Rukia's eyes grew wide, feeling Ichigo's lips gently press upon hers. The moment brought tears at the corners of her eyes, which she suddenly fought back. She shut her eyes closed, and when Ichigo pulled back, she opened them, letting a single tear slide down her flushed cheeks. She immediately wiped it away with her hand, hoping that the carrot-top didn't notice.

But what shocked her was...he was staring at her! "Uh, hey...it's not like that. I'm not crying, strawberry," she said, faking a smile.

Ichigo smirked, lowering his head so that his bangs cover his amber eyes. "Stupid."

Rukia glared at him. "Who are you calling stupid?"

"You, midget. Stop thinking I don't notice how you feel."

Rukia's eyes grew wide. But no, no way! There's no way she's giving in. Not this time..not now...

"Are you kid--"

Ichigo didn't hesitate. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug, while she sobbed gently in his chest. Ichigo tightened his grip around her. His jacket was getting wet, but he didn't care. If she needed his comfort, he'd be there no matter what.

Rukia herself wanted to stop. Why on earth was she showing him how weak she was!? What was she thinking, crying in front of him?

"Rukia, it's okay...," Ichigo spoke. "Let all those darn things out. I know..."

_What do you know, Ichigo?_

"I'm the reason for those tears, am not I?"

* * *

**Nyyyaaaaa! Gomen, gomen, gomen! T_T I'm sorry if you guys aren't satisfied with it!!! Huhuhuhu...I'm not satisfied with it myself!!! I'm really, really sorry! I have no idea what's happening! Grrrr, I'm gonna have to try harder!!! Anyway, to those who will still review no matter how ugly this chapter turned out to be, thank you! Thank you so much! You don't know how much that means to me!**

**Anyway...the next chapter might already include Senna. Grrrrr!!! Thanks again! Oh, and no Flames, please!**

**...Please REVIEW!!!! Pwease!? =(**


	19. HideandSeek

**Yay! RaiChia is back! Ü Woohoohoo, this is Chap 19 of DBY! Yay!!! ^_^ Anyway, to those who reviewed in the previous chaps, Izumi Rules, realityfling18, YunaBlaze, Rio-Chan. Shy Achillea., I'mtheBrideofBYAKUYA, and Animeluv123 thank you soooo, sooo much! You all made me so happy! Devil Beside You won't be Devil Beside You without you guys! ^_-**

**Anyway, welcome Senna in this chap! *turns green with jealousy*  
**

**Anyway, her character here is a bit different from Liu Mei Di in DBY. She's sorta annoying! Grrrr....**

**Disclaimer: I, RaiChia, do not own Bleach. =D**

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Rukia sat on her desk, staring sleepily outside. There was nothing but snow, snow, and more snow, and the cold only made her more sleepy. As usual, she was the early bird of the class. She hated being late, even though she really doesn't check her calendar that much.

"Good morning, Rukia!," a familiar, cheerful voice said. Rukia turned and smiled at Orihime, who was wearing a different hairstyle than her usual hair clips. Today, she tied up her hair on one side of her head. Rukia grinned. "Good morning, Hime-chan!"

Orihime laid her stuff at her desk and plopped down in her chair. "What do you think of my hair, Rukia? I saw it in a fashion magazine just awhile ago!," she said, showing the side ponytail to her raven-haired friend. Rukia smiled at her mischievously.

Orihime noticed Rukia's strange look and fidgeted uncomfortably. "What's the matter? Doesn't it look good on me?"

Rukia cracked up. "Hime-chan, you look so cute when you're in love!," she exclaimed, making Orihime blush. "I-in _love? _Are you kidding me?," Orihime said, raising an eyebrow, but the pink tinge on her cheeks was saying it all.

Rukia patted Orihime's head. "It's okay to be in love anyway, Hime-chan! C'mon, tell me 'bout..." Rukia scooted closer to Orihime as she whispered, "The date."

Orihime's eyes grew wide as she stared unbelievably at her friend, who just grinned back at her. "I know you went out with--mmpf!"

Orihime covered Rukia's mouth, as the door suddenly opened, revealing a rather sleepy-looking Momo. Inoue let go of Rukia as they both cracked up.

"Momo, you startled us!," said Orihime, grinning widely. "Anyway, good morning, Momo!"

Rukia smiled at her as well. "Yeah, good morning! By the way, how come you look so groggy today? Couldn't sleep well last night?"

Momo nodded as she, too, plopped down in her seat. "Mmm. Keigo was up all night. He called me using his cell, and I couldn't hang up at all. He sounded really excited...," she said as her voice trailed off, her head falling to her desk. Inoue and Rukia looked at each other, giggling. Momo fell asleep. The two knew that as soon as they heard a cute-sounding snore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

The bell finally rang. Rukia heaved a huge sigh of relief as she stood up and carried her belongings. HomeEc class had given her a major headache, and she couldn't be more thankful that school was finally over. Orihime and Momo dashed past her, eager to go to the restroom. Rukia grinned at them as she headed to her locker. She put a scarf on.

As Rukia opened her locker, a hand grabbed her. Her eyes grew wide as she tried to scream, but no sound came out.

.....

....

...

..

.

Rukia stared at the carrot-top in bewilderment and _boiling _anger.

"What?," Ichigo asked, as he folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow at Rukia.

Rukia bit her lip and rolled her eyes. "What the heck was that for, you idiot!?" Rukia glared at him. He was acting so immature, like those six-year-olds who need a whole lot of spanking. What on earth was up with that? Grabbing her like she wasn't even a living thing. She wanted to throw him down a cliff and shave his head.

Ichigo smirked. He walked over to Rukia and patted her head. Rukia shot him a Look and jerked her head away. "Sorry, midget," the carrot-top muttered.

Rukia gritted her teeth as she punched Ichigo's arm. "Stop calling me midget, you--"

Rukia was about to hit him again, when he suddenly caught her arm. The carrot-top grinned mischievously. "What, _midget_?"

Rukia glared at him again, this time, a certified, Die death glare. She pulled her arm away and stormed off, fuming. Ichigo stared at her as she walked back inside. He shook his head. _What a cute-butt midget._

_

* * *

_Rukia walked slowly down the hallway, clutching her bag. She furrowed her eyebrows as she thought about that immature, orange-headed Ichigo. Ooooh, she wanted to strangle that idiot! "Smirking mischievously, pulling me as if I was a traveling bag, and," She clenched her fists, "Calling me a darn midget! You are so gonna get it, you piece of horrid creature from the underworld!"

A beeping noise interrupted her thoughts. Rukia took her cellphone from her pocket.

_Guys, let's meet at the front of Karakura Mall tonight. We're gonna have some bonding time! =) _

Rukia sweat-dropped. "What is Yoji planning on doing?," she said out loud, groaning. She checked her watch. _6:30 p.m. _

Hastily, Rukia headed outside the school. Almost all of the students were leaving. She sighed, as the thought of that immature, carrot-top who ruined her mood filled her mind. She crossed her arms. _Oh, if I could get my hands on that--_

"Rukia!"

Rukia turned around to see Orihime and Uryu running up to her. Seeing the romantic couple helped lighten up Rukia's mood a little bit. She smiled at them. "Hi Hime, hi there, Uryu-kun! What's up?," she asked.

Orihime smiled at Rukia, who suddenly noticed that her cheeks were red. Rukia smiled to herself. _You are SO in love, Hime-chan._

Rukia was about to smile mischievously at Orihime, when Uryu suddenly held up his cellphone. "Didn't you receive a text message from Yoji, Rukia-san?"

"Oh! Yeah, I did," she said, holding up her cellphone. Orihime smiled. "Then, shall we go together?" Rukia smiled.

* * *

Rukia looked outside at the snowy paradise as the train slowly moved. It was almost dinnertime, and she knew she won't be able to eat dinner at home. _And neither is Ichigo, _she thought, _Yoji can't live a day without that---_

"That moron!," she yelled out loud. Startled by her own voice, she covered her mouth with her hands, gazing at the people who were now staring back at her. She forced a smile. "Uh...sorry," she said, sheepishly scratching the back of her head. Orihime stared suspiciously at her. Rukia gave her a wide-eyed, innocent look.

"Uh...what?"

Orihime narrowed her eyes at the raven-haired, petite girl. "Hmmm..._moron_, eh?"

Rukia blushed. _Uh-oh. _She scanned her eyes everywhere, _anywhere, _except Orihime's eyes. Until Orihime held Rukia's face between her hands and made those purple-eyes meet her gray orbs. Rukia smiled sheepishly again.

"Something's bothering you," Orihime said in a sing-song voice. Rukia sighed and slumped her shoulders. She gave Orihime a you-said-it look. Orihime smiled, as Uryu glanced at them over his shoulders.

"Let me guess. I-chi-go?," Inoue asked. Rukia rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, it's that horrid, _stupid_, Idiotic, ORANGE-HEADED--," Rukia said, fists clenched, and her voice raising up at every word she said.

"Rukia!," Inoue said, giggling at how mad the petite girl looked. Rukia sighed again and threw her arms. "I can't help it!," she growled. Orihime smiled calmly, hoping she could get the furious girl to calm down like her.

"It's more like....I'm the only one who's mad," Rukia said helplessly.

"It's really like that, Rukia. Didn't you hear that, you could go on and on _and on and on _up to a million--no, a gazillion things about something when you talk to a guy, and guess what? They haven't even analyzed one-fourth of the first thing you said!"

Rukia gaped at her. "Oooh...diabolical--or should I say, _guy-abolical. _I didn't know you were a boy-encyclopedia, Hime!" Orihime gave her a wink. "So what are you planning to do about that?"

Rukia took a deep breath and shrugged. "I dunno. Ignore him, maybe?," she said, raising an eyebrow. "What _should _I do?"

Orihime blushed as she turned around, took Uryu's hand, and entwined it with her own. Uryu smiled down at her. Inoue looked at Rukia and winked. "_This _is an example," she whispered.

* * *

As they reached Karakura mall, they spotted Yoji and the rest of the group, all huddled together in a corner. Rukia can't help but think they were absolutle bored to death. Yoji, the mastermind behind that _bonding _thing, was grinning widely, while a mischievous-looking Ichigo caught Rukia's attention, causing her blood to boil the way the flaming hot lava does.

As Rukia, Orihime, and Uryu joined the group, Yoji clapped his hands together, drawing the bored group's attention to him. He smiled and cleared his throat. "Okay, now that we're all here, let the bonding begin!," he said, smiling. His smile faded when the group stared back at him with a oh-you've-got-to-be-kidding-us look. Yoji's shoulders dropped as he spoke in a whiny tone, "Oh, come on, you guys! We're complete, we're at the mall, we can do ANYTHING we wanna do! So what are we waiting for?"

Bonk! Ichigo hit the back of Yoji's head. "Ow! What the heck!?," Yoji muttered. Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Dude, we barely have money to get home. You expect us to play around like a bunch of sissies with no money?" Yoji pouted as Ichigo took a deep breath. "Okay then, let's play hide and seek."

_That _drew everybody's attention, even Rukia's, who happened to be oh-so-mad at the carrot-top at that very minute.

"Hide and seek?," asked Momo.

"That's silly, Ichigo!," cried Tatsuki, wrinkling her nose.

Ichigo gave them his devilish smile. "Not if you put in a _twist_," he said, accenting the last word. They all looked at each other. What was Ichigo up to now?

.....

....

...

..

.

The group huddled outside in the snow. It was a perfect setting to play hide and seek. Ichigo took a deep breath. He stood in the middle, placed a hand on his eyes, raised his index finger...and turned around and around. Stop. He opened his eyes, only to find out that his index finger pointed to--

"Uryu!," everyone cheered.

"Okay, here are the rules," Ichigo began. "The winner..."

Everybody's eyes grew wide as the carrot-top spoke. "--gets to pick the person he or she would like to kiss."

Silence followed as a bunch of faces turned six deep shades of red. Ichigo smirked, staring at each and every one of them. It was the great Yoji who broke the silence. "Okay," he said enthusiastically, "Let's get the _bonding _on!" He clapped his hands together, grinning.

_Thirty seconds later._

Yoji stared at them all in bewilderment, his enthusiastic grin slowly fading. "Hey! Why aren't you guys moving?"

"Puh-leeze, Yoji," Tatsuki whined, rolling her eyes as she walked away, finding a nice, comfy hihding place. The others did the same, and so did the great Yoji with a whine. Uryu was left standing in the middle of the snow, with two...very...uh, _nice _people.

Rukia stared at Yoji, and so did the carrot-top beside her. At the corner of her eye, Rukia could see that devilish smirk again. She turned her head very, _very _slightly. And looked at the smirk.

Ichigo looked back at her. Rukia immediately looked away and pretended to examine Uryu's foot. "Wow...nice foot, Uryu," she muttered, rolling her eyes at herself. She was about to turn around when Ichigo suddenly grabbed her by the hand...and started walking. Rukia followed him, blushing slightly as she stared at their intertwined fingers.

"Hey, we've gotta hide too, ya know?," Ichigo said as he continued walking, not looking back at Rukia.

* * *

Momo peered over her shoulders, to see if the freaking "it" was around. She grinned to see that Uryu wasn't. Slowly, she creeped outside the huge, and I say, _huge_, flower pot. As she got outside, she brushed the dirt off her coat and smiled to herself. "Ha, Ha."

She walked across the road to where Uryu stood before, hoping to get there before the dark-haired guy saw her. She was standing on tiptoes, not knowing why, since cement doesn't creak like wooden floors do. Momo sweat-dropped but kept on walking anyway.

"Oopsie." Momo froze. The "it" was standing behind her, she could feel it. She slowly turned around to see a triumphantly-grinning Uryu. She gave him a sheepish smile as she scratched the back of her head. "Uh...," she said, "Merry Christmas!," she yelled in the cutest voice she could manage.

But the "it" only said, "Found. You."

Momo rolled her eyes. "Ok, fine!"

* * *

As they reached a corner, they turned. Ichigo peered at the sides. Good, they were _far _from freaking Uryu. Ichigo sighed and leaned on a wall, which Rukia did the same. No one spoke a word, but their hands were still intertwined, like they didn't wanna let go anymore. Ichigo stared up at the sky, a few snowflakes falling on his cheeks. Then suddenly, without warning (**haha. without warning...what? A hollow appeared? Haha! I wish!**) Ichigo faced Rukia and pinned her to the wall. He placed his own hands on the wall behind Rukia, trapping the raven-haired midget and leaving only a _small _gap between them. Rukia held his piercing gaze, as the carrot-top spoke.

"Still mad at me, midget?"

Rukia pouted, but didn't look away. "Mmm."

Ichigo smirked. "Then let me make up for it," he said. "That's why, I'm here with you, fool."

Rukia couldn't help but smile. This moron really got the best of her. "Oh yeah!?," she said, raising an eyebrow at him.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, this hour," he said, leaning close to her ears, "belongs to us."

Rukia looked at him closely. _What an idiot, _she thought to herself, _he always makes me feel like this. Like I'm trapped or something. But it feels nice, actually. Now what? I forgot the reason why I even got mad at him in the first place. And with that look, those piercing eyes, and that super annoying, devilish smirk_, she closed her eyes and smiled. _It's as if...he wants me to..., _Rukia slowly leaned closer to Ichigo's face, a smile spreading across her flushed, but cute, face. She gave him a soft, quick kiss on the lips._ Do this first._

Ichigo's face broke into that devilish smirk again. Rukia leaned back on the wall, a sheepish smile on her face. Ichigo looked her in the eyes, as if he was searching her. Rukia felt a bit awkward, staying in a position like that for too long. As she felt Ichigo's gaze on her, she slowly looked up, only to meet his gaze. A blush spread across her cheeks. Try as she might, she couldn't look away. She wanted to crack a joke, or kick him in the shin like she used to, but right now...she was held captive by his piercing gaze.

"I-Ichigo," she said it in a whisper. Ichigo smiled as Rukia's eyes widened. He barely smiled like this. It was one of those genuine smiles. Ichigo said, as he leaned closer to her face, "You look cute when you're like that, midget." Rukia glared, but slowly closed her eyes as she felt Ichigo lean in.

.....

....

...

..

.

"Huh?" Ichigo opened his eyes. Was it him or did Rukia's lips just felt like...a hand!? Ichigo looked sideways to see...a smirking Uryu. Ichigo's face turned a dozen deep shades of red. Uryu adjusted his glasses, trying his best not to laugh at what he just did, for fear of getting a solid black eye from the orange-head.

But.

He was going to get one anyway. Uryu smiled a sheepish smile. "Uh...found you?," he said, with an innocent look on his face. Ichigo moved closer to him, causing him to move away. Ichigo smiled. "Come to papa."

The "it" turned pale blue. "Oh no, you don't!," he yelled as he ran away, with the orange-head trailing behind him. Rukia shook her head and rolled her eyes as she stared at the two chasing after on another. It kinda reminded her of a Dog and a cat. She could've been the rat. "Weird," she muttered under her breath as she walked towards them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Uryu smiled. Finally, he lost Ichigo. He looked around. It made him feel wierd. He was supposed to be finding people, not the one who was waiting to be found. He sighed and walked around. Trying to see if certain head would pop out a certain bush or if anyone was hiding behind the benches. He looked around, but spotted nothing. Suddenly, he felt a swift movement. He turned around and placed his hands in karate postiton.

A long, yellow scarf caught his eye. _Orihime! _He grinned to himself as he walked over to the small bush where the _person_ with a yellow scarf was hiding. He rubbed his hands together, bit his lip, and narrowed his eyes. _Orihime, here I come! I must protect your kiss!!!_

As he bent down to look at the person, whom he expected to be Orihime, he cocked his head to the side in surprise. From what he could remember, Orihime had long, auburn hair, not dark blue.

"Yes, a date at the beach, my love." Uryu heard the _person _say. Again, from what he could remember, Orihime's voice was light, not _manly._ Out of curiosity, he tapped the _person's _shoulder.

His eyebrows twitched.

Sweat formed on his forehead.

"Mizuiro. Great," he muttered, sweat-dropping. Mizuiro flashed him a smile as he held up the yellow scarf. "Fooled you, didn't I?"

"Found. You."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Minutes passed and soon, everyone was found, including Orihime. Uryu felt a little disappointed that she didn't win. "Well, there's always a next time!," said the bubbly girl to him. Uryu cheered up and went back to his "mission," finding the rest--Chad, Tatsuki, Yoji, and Keigo. As soon as they all gathered, Rukia did a head count.

She wrinkled her forehead. "Ten? I thought we were supposed to be eleven!," she head, staring at her fingers.

They all looked at one another, and grinned. "Ten!," Ichigo yelled out.

"Nine...Eight...Seven...," everybody joined in. "Six...Five...Four...Three...Two...ONE!!!"

They all cracked up. Ichigo clapped his hands together. "Renji, you're the winner! Come on out now!," he yelled, cupping his hands over his mouth.

The readhead suddenly jumped out of nowhere. Everyone's eyes grew wide as Renji brushed dirt away from his clothes. He grinned at them sheepishly. Until his eyes met Ichigo's. The carrot-top smirked and nodded.

"So that means...," Ichigo began.

"I know, I know...I have to pick the person I would like to kiss," he said, turning tomato-red. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, boring holes into his back and all over him. They looked like they were going to burst peeing if he didn't speak a word. He slowly looked up, and as if a coincidence, his eyes met with Tatsuki's.

The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes and pretended to be annoyed. "Oh puh-leeze," she groaned, but couldn't keep the blush from spreading across her face. Snickers followed.

"I will choose--"

Tatsuki closed her eyes shut as her blush grew deeper. Renji managed a small smile. "Tatsuki."

They all let out a laugh. Renji walked closer to Tatsuki, causing everybody's eyes to widen in shock. Tatsuki stuck her tongue out at him. "Goof face."

"Awww....," Momo groaned, pouting.

"KISS!," yelled Chad. (**Chad yells!? Well, in DBY, he does. XD!!**)

"Yeah, kiss!," joined Yoji. Soon evryone joined in a chorus of, "KISS, KISS, KISS!"

Tatsuki, who looked obviously annoyed at the fact that the readhead chose her, took a deep breath. She glared at him, and sighed for the umpteenth time. "Alright," she said in that annoyed tone. Renji flashed her a grateful smile as he leaned closer. Tatsuki blocked his face with her right hand. "Uh-uh-uh. Cheek."

Renji leaned in to kiss her on the cheeks, Tatsuki's blush deepening. Just as his lips were about to touch her cheek, Ichigo, (well what do we expect?) who had a smirk on his face, jerked Tatsuki's head with his hands, causing her lips to meet with Renji's. A round of applause was heard as they all cooed. Renji pulled back, feeling slightly embarrassed, and Tatsuki gave Ichigo a death glare.

Rukia smiled. What a way to have a "bonding" time. Ichigo caught her eye and gave her a wink. She winked back. _Moron..._

_

* * *

_As Ichigo and Rukia walked home, neither spoke. Rukia stared at their hands, intwined inside the red mitten. She smiled up at Ichigo, who, in turn, gave her hand a light squeeze.

A taxi drove by slowly, where a girl with indigo hair and bright yellow eyes sat in, staring at the two, happy-looking couple. She smiled and took off her sunglasses, as she stared at the orange-haired boy.

"You're the same as always, Ichigo," she said, folding her arms across her chest. "Rukia, eh?," she snorted, raising an eyebrow and stifling a giggle.

"Welcome Senna," she said, putting her sunglasses back on.

* * *

**OOOpsie! The -ugh!- girl is here. Now what? Major trouble.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! I'll be happier if you drop some comments and suggestions and REVIEWS!!!! =))**

**Anyway, thanks to YunaBlaze for suggesting the hide-and-seek part! You're a brilliant person!  
**

**Stay tuned for the next chappie! Ü**

**Thanks again! -Bow-  
**


	20. An Old Flame

**Hi guys!^___^ Whew, Alright, I am SOO sorry for the late update! A lot has been going on lately, and I really can't wait to go to college!**

**First of all, thank you so much, guys, for the wonderfully wonderful reviews! Ü I think Chap 19 has the most reviews than any chap I had ever written, and that really amazes me! You guys are so adorable! Thanks a lot to YunaBlaze, DanceOfTheWhiteMoon, Izumi Rules, animeluv123, and Mikazuki Mitsukai!!!! ^___^ God bless you guys! I can't believe how inspired I am to write right now! It's all because of you guys! Sometimes, people just need a little push on the back to keep them going. :)**

**Alright, back to reality. (My cousin _adores _that phrase.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any characters form it, just Yoji. Haha.^_^**

**

* * *

**

Rukia gave an exasperated sigh.

"Hurry up, slowpoke!," the carrot-top ahead of her yelled. Rukia rolled her eyes. The sun had barely risen and there they were, already in high spirits, jogging around the neighborhood. It was _Ichigo's _idea. It was a pretty good thing that it had stopped snowing during the night, making the snow on the ground become less thick than yesterday.

Rukia, who was dressed in a hot pink tank top with a navy blue jacket, black jogging pants, and white sneakers, rushed up to her orange-headed companion. It wasn't really cold that morning, that's why she didn't bother to wear a coat. Ichigo was already sweaty, his gray shirt underneath his white jacket clinging tightly to his body. He had a green towel draped over his shoulders, while Rukia just carried hers.

She raised an eyebrow. "Just who the heck are you calling a 'slowpoke,' idiot?"

Ichigo smirked and ruffled her hair, which was tied into a cute ponytail. "You, midget."

Rukia rolled her eyes as she continued to jog. Why do people act weird during dawn? Ichigo followed behind, and soon, the two were jogging side by side. They were planning on circling the block. Rukia smiled as a huge tree came into view. It was located in an empty lot, covered with grass and weeds. The tree was about three stories high.

Rukia stopped jogging and said, "Hey Ichigo, look at that!" She pointed to the tree, her expression turning to that of a child's when amazed. Ichigo stopped in his tracks, following his raven-haired girlfriend who had already made her way towards the humongous tree. It was the same tree he used to play in back in elementary, when their family first moved in to that neighborhood. He smiled as he glanced at her. She looked almost like an ant next to the huge thing.

"That tree has been there even before we moved to this neighborhood," he said, wrapping an arm around her petite frame. "I used to play in there back in elementary."

A smile made its way across Rukia's face. "Really? It's huge!," she exclaimed, staring at he bottom part of the tree. It was so huge; she thought she could fit the first floor of their house inside it.

"Wanna carve our initials on it?," Ichigo smirked. Rukia nodded as she watched Ichigo pull out a Swiss knife from his pocket. As the orange-head bent down to start carving his own initials, Rukia reached into her pocket and checked her watch. Her eyes grew wide. _Almost 6 o'clock! I never thought we'd jog that long! _

"Hey, Ichi, I think it's time for us to go!," she said, patting his shoulder. It was her turn to cook breakfast that morning and she'd better start right away if she didn't want them to starve later on. The thought of cooking made her stomach churn. Almost everybody knew that cooking was not and will not be her best talent. Oh well, Hisana made the mistake of assigning her to that duty. Maybe she could get Ichigo to help her cook.

The carrot-top barely looked up from his carving. "Wait, I haven't even finished carving my name yet!," he said, still not looking up. Rukia peered over his shoulder to see a letter 'I' on the tree, a period, and the first two line strokes of the letter 'K.'

"Hurry, you idiot! Just finish your initials first. I'll carve mine later on! We'd better hurry or there'd be no breakfast for you, strawberry," she said, tapping her foot impatiently as she watched the carrot top finish off carving a period after the letter 'k.' Ichigo stood up and brushed his pants. He quickly put the Swiss knife back into his pocket. Grinning, he pinched Rukia's nose and ran off.

"Last one to the house is a rotten egg!," he yelled.

_That _got her. Rukia sprang off after him. Ichigo let out a laugh as she neared him. Rukia stuck her tongue out at him and quickened her pace, catching up to him in process. As soon as both of them were three houses down from their own house, Ichigo switched to walking mode, and so did the raven-haired girl beside him.

"Phew," Rukia breathed, wiping her face with her towel. "That was fun!," she exclaimed, taking Ichigo's hand into hers.

"Yeah, except that you were awfully slow," he muttered.

Rukia scrunched up her nose as she hit the back of his head, to which he let out a loud scream. "Ha. Funny, Ichigo." Suddenly, blueberry pancakes entered Rukia's mind as a gurgling sound came from her stomach. She grinned sheepishly at Ichigo, who raised an eyebrow at her. She shook her head. "I'd better make breakfast."

Ichigo snorted. "Yeah, like you can cook."

Rukia gritted her teeth. How dare he insult her cooking skills? Can't he get enough out of her height already? She let go of his hand and pinched him in the nose.

"YEEOOW!"

Rukia laughed hysterically. "That's...what you get...for insulting me, idiot!," she said, barely getting the words out between fits of laughter. She ran towards their house, tongue sticking out at Ichigo. The carrot-top's lips formed a frown, but she could tell he was having fun.

"Rotten egg!," she called out before heading straight to the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Breakfast was a healthy serving of blueberry pancakes with coffee. Grandma Jiang woke up to the sound of bickering in the kitchen.

"Hey midget! Look what you did to the pancake. It looks like it came from outer space."

"What!? You were the one who fried that, you big, orange-head! Look at what _you _did to the kitchen! It's a mess!"

"You were the one mixing the flour!"

"Hey....put that pancake down, Ichigo!"

"Whooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

"I said put that down!"

_CRASH!_

"Ichigo, quick, help me clean this up!"

"Midget, why can't you look where you're going?"

"Grab the broom, you---oof!"

Laughter filled the kitchen as Grandma Jiang finally decided to get up. Grabbing her silk shawl at the top of her dresser, she looked at the clock with a calendar beside it. Today was the day she had to move back to her house. She had packed most of her stuff already. Two suitcases and a small bag were laid down on the floor.

Grandma Jiang sat up in bed, as thoughts of the previous two days filled her mind.

_The Ferris wheel ride wasn't really crowded. Grandma Jiang turned to see Hisana and Byakuya, who were studying a map of the amusement park. She was told awhile ago that Ichigo and Rukia were going off somewhere. 'They're gonna have that brother-sister bonding thing, Grandma Jiang,' was what Hisana said. Grandma Jiang shook her head. Somehow, 'brother-sister' weren't quite the words she would call their -bonding-._

_She said a quick goodbye to Hisana and Byakuya, who were still studying the map of the amusement park. After walking a mile or so, she decided to head to a nearby bench. She hugged her coat tighter to her body, hoping to warm herself. She was about to sit down when a particular sight caught her eye._

_There, in front of the humongous, Ferris wheel ride, were two figures she could quite make out, despite the snow falling upon her eyelashes. They were hugging each other. Her eyes widened as she suddenly realized who they were. That hug, those expressions from their faces, the way -he- was looking at -her-...everything was finally making sense! She knew she was right all along. Fists clenched, she took deep breaths. _

_"No...This cannot be happening. Those two...they must not be together," she murmured to herself. "Don't they know what they're doing? If they keep this up, then the family's reputation...."_

Grandma Jiang shook her head, a frown creasing her face. Right now, she still wasn't convinced that the relationship between those two were that of siblings. She stood up, thinking of a way to separate them from each other. She knew that what she was doing was right. It was right for Ichigo, it was right for Rukia, it was right for the whole family. If she just let them continue what they were doing, both would ruin the family's reputation. And considering the fact that her grandson would be the successor of his father's position in the company--

"Hey, quit it, you idiot!" Grandma Jiang snapped back to reality upon hearing her -granddaughter's- voice. With an exasperated sigh, she walked towards her door and went outside the room, which was just located in front of the kitchen. Her eyes grew wide as she saw two figures, both unbelievably white, and wrestling with each other. White powder was also scattered on the floor, while the kitchen sink was...messy, to put it nicely.

...

Alright, the whole place looked like it had just been hit by a tornado.

"What's wrong, grandma? You look like you've just seen a ghost," said the taller white figure, getting off of the smaller one.

_I think I just have. _Taking a deep breath, Grandma Jiang tried to force a smile. "Kids, you'd better clean up," was all she could say before quickly disappearing from the kitchen.

Rukia, who remained frozen the moment the door of her -grandmother's- room opened, blinked. Looking down at herself, she could explain the look on Grandma Jiang's face. She and Ichigo were both a mess. Her ponytail had come off and her hair was all white. Her hands were sticky with maple syrup and her towel was soaked in the kitchen sink. Ichigo, meanwhile, was even more flour-covered than she was. If it weren't for his orange spikes and weird height, she would've mistaken him for the little ghost boy in the film, "The Grudge."

"What a way to greet her a good morning, Ichigo," Rukia said, nudging him in the ribs. "C'mon, we'd better clean up before mom and uncle come down. Trust me, they'll both have a fit."

Ichigo rolled his eyes irritably. He _hated _cleaning up. "Fine," he muttered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Rukia stomped her foot. The carrot-top was really getting onto her nerves.

"Get in," he said, raising an eyebrow at her. Rukia eyed the bike. It was rather huge; it made even Ichigo the teeniest bit smaller. Rukia winced. For a second there, she thought the bike suddenly had eyes, a bull's horn, and was glaring at her hungrily. She shook her head. Why did he have to be so persistent? The freakin' thing scared her to no end.

"I don't wanna," she said, pouting.

"We'll be late, midget. Just get in," he replied in an annoyed tone.

"I said I don't wanna!"

Ichigo gave a shrug. "Okay then, you walk," he said, carefully hopping onto the bike and briskly putting his helmet on. He wore a black jacket, dark pants with a chain hanging from the left pocket down to his small knee pocket. He looked like the typical "bad guy."

Rukia, meanwhile, was dressed in a dirty-white, knee-length, floral skirt. Her top as a soft purple, long-sleeved one with little, heart-shaped buttons. She wore white boots that went up halfway through her legs and her hair was tied in two little pigtails. She didn't look like anyone who would ride a _humongous _bike to school. She bit her lip and closed her eyes.

_Walk. To school. Yeah, right._

With a sigh, she took the smaller helmet from Ichigo's hands and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'm getting in, then." She said it like she was already saying goodbye to the world. She didn't know why, but riding in a thing that requires balance scared the living daylights out of her. She couldn't even ride a bicycle to save her life, let alone a terrifying, humongous bike. And worse, riding it with a carrot-top who couldn't care less about _balance._

Ichigo smirked as she climbed in next to him. Settling in, she adjusted herself--and her skirt, _thank goodness it was knee-length_, and wrapped both arms around Ichigo. He raised an eyebrow. The raven-haired girl's face was buried so tight in his back he was afraid she'd leave it there. Her arms were already tightening their grip on his waist he felt like his breakfast would go up any minute.

"Uh...Rukia?"

"Hmm?" He barely heard her.

"Think you can...maybe loosen it up a bit? You might have your face printed in my jacket, you know...And I think my breakfast's already making its way--"

She abruptly let go of him and looked down. "Sorry."

"Hey, it's okay...don't be scared, midget. You'll be having fun, trust me," he said, gently patting her helmet. Rukia looked up at him, though she wasn't sure he saw her expression. There was something strange about it. Rukia smiled. It was like Ichigo, whom she once knew as a devil, was finally softening up. He wasn't so snobby and jerky like before.

As he started the engine, Rukia closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him once again, this time gently. Ichigo gave a small smirk as he drove down the driveway and outside. He could feel her shaking. That was what was so cute about this midget. "Hold on tight."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Rukia went down. Finally, she was in heaven. Honestly, she would rather have died than ride a bike.

But then again, it was much much better than having to walk and get late.

That was yet the most terrifying experience she ever had in her whole, seventeen years of life. She took a deep breath and lifted the helmet off her head. Ichigo stepped out of the bike and took the helmet from her. He smirked. "Had fun, midget?"

Rukia gave him a fake smile. "Yeah, I did, Ichigo! So much fun I'D RATHER DIE THAN HAVE TO RIDE THAT THING AGAIN FOR ONE WHOLE MINUTE!"

With a glare, she stormed off, much to the orange-head's amusement. "Che, stubborn midget."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"Good morning, Ichigo!," yelled Keigo, walking up to him. The brown-haired guy was about wrap his arms around the carrot-top when his face suddenly connected with his stone-like fists.

"Ow," was all the brown-haired guy could mutter as he rubbed his sore nose. He snorted. Like he didn't know how Ichigo hated mornings. Oh well...

"Hey, Ichigo. I heard a new student's transferring here today," called Yoji, who was sitting in his chair with both of his feet propped up on his desk. He was wearing his trademark blue goggles in his head. His coffee-colored hair was spread in all directions.

"Whatever," Ichigo muttered as he lowered his head in his desk sleepily.

"Is it a girl?," asked Mizuiro, who was busily texting on his cellphone. Yoji just rolled his eyes. Mizuiro was known for dating girls who were older than he was. Yoji wasn't surprised when he announced before that he had once dated a woman who was even older than his own mother!

"I dunno...probably," Yoji said, shrugging.

Ten minutes later, all of the students were finally in the classroom, chattering away. A group of girls were huddled on one corner, studying a painting of what seemed like a head of a pig. Some guys were playing some kind of basketball that didn't include running, yelling loudly everytime they "shoot." Some were just studying notes or talking about the upcoming game.

The door suddenly opened, drawing everyone's attention. The class professor, Mr. Jyuushiro Ukitake, entered in, clearing his throat. Everyone, except Ichigo, who had finally fallen asleep in his desk, immediately quieted down, and politely returned back to their seats. Yoji carefully brought his legs back down on the desk. He looked at Ukitake-sensei and back at Ichigo somewhat nervously. _I hope he doesn't get caught..._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~._

Senna leaned impatiently on the wall. Just when was he letting her in? She brushed her hands through her skirt, letting out a sigh. She had been worried all through the morning. She recently found out that _he_ studied here.

_"Hi there, how's my sweetie?," asked Mila Rose. She became excited the moment her daughter called that she was already at the Karakura Airport. She had already prepared dinner, and dressed nicely, in a beautiful, wool coat and cream-colored slacks. Her curly, brown hair hung loosely over her shoulders. She rushed to her to give her daughter a warm hug. Senna smiled as she hugged her mother back. _

_"I'm alright, Mom."_

_Mila Rose's bright-green orbs were twinkling. She was worried that her daughter wouldn't make it to Karakura, due to the heavy snowfall. "It's good to have you here, sweetie."_

_..._

_After helping her mother set the table, Senna was definitely starving. They both sat down and looked at the delicious-looking, roasted turkey placed at the small, wooden dinner table. A soft, white, cotton tablecloth was draped over the furniture, making it look very homely._

_"Itadakimasu!," they chorused._

_..._

_"Sweetie, I heard your childhood friend lives somewhere here in this town. What was his name again? I-Ich..."_

_"It's Ichigo, mom."_

_"Oh, right! Ichigo. And it's perfect, dear. He studies in the same university you'll be going in. Don't you think it's fate that you two will be meeting here again?," said Mila Rose, giving a soft chuckle._

_Senna smiled. "I think so, mom."_

-I'm sorry, mom...."He" was the reason I moved here in the first place._-_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~._

Yoji looked back at Ukitake-sensei who walked towards his desk and cleared his throat again. "Good morning, class. Actually, today, we have a new student. She's from the University Of British Columbia and her family owns an automobile company. Please come in, miss." He motioned his hand at the door as a girl entered the room, walking gracefully towards Ukitake-sensei's desk. Yoji's eyes grew wide upon looking at the new student. She was a pretty tall girl, with bright-orange eyes and purple hair that was carefully tied with a thin, red ribbon. She smiled as she took a slight bow.

_This...is unbelievable, _Yoji thought as he hesitated to wake up the sleeping orange-head beside him.

"Please introduce yourself to the class."

"Hi, my name is Senna and I'm from UBC. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, taking a bow again. Yoji nudged Ichigo hardly, making the carrot-top's head shot up, his eyes reddish from the sleep.

"What?," he asked, annoyed.

Yoji pointed his finger towards the front of the classroom. Ichigo hit Yoji's arm before turning to look at the "new student." He held back a gasp as his amber orbs darted towards the purple-haired girl beside their professor.

He looked back at Yoji, who was smiling. He could tell that the coffee-haired guy was almost as surprised as he was. _Senna..._

"Let's see, where can we put you?," said Ukitake-sensei, rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb. He glanced around the classroom, until his eyes darted on a certain, orange-haired man, who was wearing his usual scowl. "Oh, perfect! Miss Senna, please take that vacant seat on the fifth row, beside Mr. Kurosaki. Ichigo, please raise your hand."

Ichigo carefully raised his hand as he saw Senna making her way towards him. He couldn't believe it. It had been so long since they last saw each other. She had grown, he had grown, and they both have separate lives now. And...The ribbon, he couldn't believe she still had it right now. He couldn't believe this...

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~._

_"Ichigo-kun, Ichigo-kun!!! Look, look!" Thirteen-year-old Senna held up a ribbon in front of Ichigo's face. "Pretty, isn't it?"_

_Ichigo snorted and rolled his eyes. He was standing beside her, arms folded across his chest. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered under his breath. Senna ignored him as she tied her purple hair using the ribbon. The color of her hair combined really well with the color of the ribbon. She patted her hair one last time before looking up at the humongous tree in front of them. She sighed dramatically. "Ichigo-kun...this tree is wonderful, isn't it? It's been here so long. I've never seen anything so sturdy and long-enduring like this..."_

_A single tear made its way down the purple-haired girl's cheek. She quickly wiped it with the back of her hand, fighting back more that were threatening to spill. However, she failed in doing so. Today was the day she was supposed to leave for Canada. She tried almost everything--everything, just to convince her father not to take her with him. But...no matter what she did, he wouldn't listen. She couldn't take it...she couldn't imagine the pain of being away from "him." He was the only friend she had...he was the only one._

_"Ichigo...you'll never forget me, right? You said before...that our friendship will forever be as sturdy as this tree..."  
_

_"Senna...," Ichigo said, taking her hands into his own. She was sobbing quietly as she buried her head in his chest.  
_

_"Hey, you'll come back, won't you?"_

_"I will...we promised that we'd carve our initials on this tree, remember?"  
_

_Senna looked up at him, tears falling freely from her orange orbs. Ichigo nodded, wrapping his arms around her. The snow was falling on them, and it was making cold. Surely, she will come back. No matter what happens, she'll always come back.  
_

_"I'll come back, Ichigo...I will, I promise."_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~._

Ichigo seemed to snap back into reality as he heard a somewhat familiar voice calling his name. He looked up to see that he was back in his classroom, with Senna smiling down at him. He pointed toward the empty seat beside him. "Sorry," he muttered. Senna thanked him and carefully took her seat.

Ichigo looked down at his desk and absentmindedly pulled a notebook from his back. He knew it was strange. But...seeing her right here, right now...it was as if he was changing.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~._

Rukia placed the huge dictionary in front of her desk. It was so huge that Orihime and Hinamori's eyes grew wide in disbelief. Certainly no one would believe that _Rukia _could actually _carry _such a huge thing. She struggled as she turned the big book upside down so it was hiding her face. Hinamori and Orihime gave each other a knowing look. There was something going on.

"Rukia, what on earth is wrong with you?," Orihime hissed, trying her best not to laugh at how silly her friend looked.

"Yeah, Rukia, you look as if you've just escaped jail or something," Momo joined, pretending to listen to their, oh-so-gorgeous professor. She sighed as she pictured him in a prince's clothing. She turned back to the two. "You guys, he's so gorgeous!," she half squealed, half hissed.

Rukia sweat-dropped as she put a finger to her lips. "Shhh...Momo, he'll hear you!," she hissed back, still hiding behind the dictionary.

The dark-haired girl ignored her. "Professor Kaien," she murmured.

Rukia sighed exasperatedly as she shook her head. _Professor Kaien Oh. Come. On. _It didn't take long for worry to come back on her face. She lifted her head up slowly and peered very, _very _carefully at the top of the dictionary. She looked to see "Professor Kaien" discussing some stuff that was written on the board. Her shoulders slumped as she rolled her eyes. No doubt, it was definitely him.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~._

_Fourteen-year-old Rukia held back a scream as she fell onto the ground. Her raven-hair was messed up and her face was all dirty. She was almost sure that her head was bleeding._

_"Haha! Look at the sucker, man. She's about to cry," said Grimmjow, the class bully. He was a rather large guy with aqua-blue hair and eyes. He was clutching a record in his hand. The record that Rukia's father gave to her as a remembrance._

_The raven-haired girl looked up at him, fury etched in her violet eyes. He had no right at all to insult her father like that...She bit her lip and fought back the tears that were forming behind her eyes. Memories were coming back to her..memories...of her dad. How he died...how it all happened in front of her own eyes. No one can insult him...no one._

_"I'm not about to cry," she said firmly, gaining composure and standing up. _

_"Oh...pretty tough, eh?," Grimmjow said, moving closer to the petite, raven-haired girl. He pulled her by the collar and continued, "Stop hiding behind that little facade of yours, Miss Kuchiki. You know very well that inside, you're nothing...but a coward," he said accenting every insult in his words. Rukia freed herself from his grasp, not turning her eyes away from him._

_"Too bad, you weren't that brave when your dad died," he said, letting out a snort. "It was all your fault..."_

_Rukia clenched her fists. He had just said the words that she dreaded so much to hear. "It was all your fault."_

_"All your fault." _

_"All your fault." The words were playing on repeat in her mind as an image of her father came into view. She lowered her head, her bangs almost hiding her violet orbs. She had always known that, even though her mother never blamed her. And yet he...the useless, piece of junk...dare tell her that it's all her fault? Rukia slowly lifted her head up, her eyes locking with Grimmjow's cold ones._

_"Now what? You gonna punch me? You gonna hit me with your WEAK, puny arms?" Grimmjow snorted as he leaned closer to her, placing a hand on her porcelain neck. Rukia narrowed her eyes at him. _

_"What? You're gonna kill me?," she spat out. His grip on her neck began to tighten as she winced in pain. This was unfair...why did she have to be treated like this anyway? Why her? She knew deep inside her heart that she deserved to be treated better, not like this...not torture everyday..._

_"Get your filthy hands off of her!"_

_They both turned to see a tall guy, who looked like he was already in college, walking towards them. He was rather muscular, and he was wearing a black fitting t-shirt and track pants. The guy had dark, spiky hair and amber orbs. He took Rukia by the arm and pulled her body away from the large, blue-haired teenager. Kaien glared at Grimmjow. "Off, kid."_

_Wordlessly, Grimmjow walked away, kicking the dirt. Kaien took a deep breath and decided to ignore him. He turned to face Rukia, who was now sobbing softly. Kaien smiled weakly as he slowly approached her. Without knowing why, he took her into his arms and let her sob into his chest, making her eyes grow wide at their close proximity. _

_-And that was when...she fell in love with Kaien Shiba.-_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~._

* * *

**Okay, okay, I know I am SOOO mean for ending it like that...*busts into tears* WAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!! Huhuhu...T_T**

**But hey, I have a reason! This chap is waay too long! It's 5,000+ words! And if I kept on writing, you'll get confused! Especially 'cuz Senna and Kaien entered the picture at the same time! ^_^ Oh, and about Mila Rose being Senna's mother and Urahara being Rukia's dead father, do you guys think it's alright? It's bugging me.**

**And can you guys please suggest something about Senna's last name? What should it be? Senna...what? Anyway, thank you so much for reading it! It's another fun chapter to write becoz I was so inspired and motivated by you guys!!! Thanks a lot! Okay, as soon as I post this, I'll be writing Chap 21 immediately..PROMISE.**

**Stay tuned!^_^**

**Love, RaiChiaÜ  
**


	21. Confusing Feelings

**Hello everyone! Whew...well, here we are, Chapter 21! ^_^ Thanks a lot to all those who reviewed: megui-chan, DanceOfTheWhiteMoon, YunaBlaze, Mikazuki Mitsukai, and animeluv123! Thank you also to A Love Destructive for reviewing on Chapter 3! God bless you all! You guys don't know how much this means to me!**

**Oh, and I want to thank my friend, YunaBlaze, for making some suggestions for chapter 21!!! My mind was totally blank, and I'm so, so grateful to her for planting some neat ideas into my head! Oh, and thanks also to you _and_ animeluv123 for suggesting a family name for Senna! I think it's perfect!**

**So, right now, Senna's real name is Senna S. Kazune, and S. stands for Sakura.!!! "Kazune" was the family name suggested by YunaBlaze while "Sakura" was the M.I. suggested by animeluv123! everyone, let's all wish animeluv123 a happy birthday!!! It's a little early though, her birthday is June 14! I hope you have a wonderful, wondeful birthday, animeluv123!!! Enjoy.!Ü**

**Anyway, I hope I don't get too sick...I have a cold right now...AH-Chooooooo, (sniff, sniff) and a cough...and a headache. Add 'em all up. FLU. (=_=) **

**I've said enough. Enjoy reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach.!**

**AH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**

**

* * *

**

Ichigo took a chocolate bar from his locker and gently closed the locker door. Classes had ended awhile ago and he decided to go home to start working on that research paper Ukitake-sensei had assigned him. He looked around and saw that a lot of students were milling out from their separate classrooms already. Most of them were carrying their backpacks, while some had left theirs in their own lockers.

He checked his watch and saw that it was only 6:00 p.m. He turned to see Yoji on a corner waving at him. The coffee-haired guy seemed pretty happy with their purple-haired friend's company. They hung out together during lunch that day and he heard nothing but laughter and 'remember when's' from them. He scowled at Yoji, whose cheerful face dropped in return.

Shoving the chocolate bar into his navy blue backpack, he looked back and stuck his tongue out at Yoji, who had made his way towards him. He planned to give the chocolate to little miss midget later on.

"Hey, Ichigo, goin' home already?" Yoji asked, raising his eyebrows.

Ichigo gave a slight nod as he continued shuffling in his backpack. "Yeah, damn research paper, man."

Yoji grinned as he gave the carrot-top a playful punch in the arm. His friend may be quite a bully sometimes, but he sure is pretty serious with his studies. "Hey, Ichigo...why aren't you talking to Senna? She probably misses you a lot, you know. You two were practically inseparable way back in junior high."

"Huh? I _was _talking to her, moron."

Yoji stifled a laugh. "Yo," he said with an oh-come-on look, "you didn't _talk_." Yoji bended two fingers on both hands to indicate quotation marks. Ichigo, who had finally finished shuffling stuff inside his backpack, looked at Yoji and rolled his eyes.

Oh, puh-leeze.

He imitated Yoji by bending two of his fingers on both of his hands too. "And what's _'talk' _supposed to mean, Yoji?" he said with a glare.

Yoji snickered. "You know...uh..._talk_," he said, teasing his orange-haired friend. Suddenly, the coffee-haired guy broke into hysterical laughter. He obviously couldn't help it anymore. "Dude, I always thought you liked each other!"

Yoji slapped Ichigo's back as he continued laughing...

...until he felt _his _glare. Ichigo was glaring at him so intensely he almost thought that, if looks could kill...

...he didn't wanna know what would happen . He immediately stopped laughing, like a car whose driver suddenly stepped on the brake. He slowly smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Uh...dude, I..was, uh, just..kidding. Hehe."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes, as he gave Yoji that devilish smirk. It was _that _smirk that even Rukia would be silenced if she took a teeny, tiny look at him. "Like each other, eh?"

"Ehehehe...yeah..a-as friends!"

Ichigo, who couldn't help the laughter that was threatening to burst from him, covered his mouth and let himself burst into a fit of giggles. He pointed a finger at Yoji's face, who looked like a puppy begging a dump truck not to run over it. He slowly stopped himself when he saw that his coffee-haired friend had sweat-dropped. He shuffled once more in his bag.

"Dude, we're just friends okay?," the orange-head said with a smile.

Yoji grinned. then muttered, "Or are you?"

Ichigo's head shot up. "What was that?"

Yoji looked at him innocently as he whistled. Ichigo rolled his eyes once more before slamming his fist onto Yoji's. And with that, the orange-headed teen dashed huskily into the hallway, trying hard to make his way past the crowd of students.

Startled, Yoji gazed down on his right hand, where Ichigo slammed his fist onto. He grinned.

_Chocolate...psh...you never change._

~~~~~~~~~~~.

Ichigo carefully sat down on his bike, taking out his gloves inside his navy blue backpack. The huge bike was steady underneath him as he began to wear his usual helmet. He grinned again as a memory about their bike ride earlier made its way on his mind. Never would he forget that frightened look on Rukia's face. She looked like she was about to get killed or something.

He pushed back the bike stand with his foot as he stretched his arms to grip the handles. He was about to start the engine, when he suddenly heard his name being called.

"Ichigo!"

The orange-haired teen looked back to see a purple-haired girl. Ichigo smiled as he moved the bike stand back into place and watched Senna walk towards him. She was wearing a light brown, long-sleeved blazer over a yellow, button-up shirt. Her skirt, which didn't quite reach up to her knees, was a darker shade of brown. And her soft, purple hair was tied up with that ribbon...

Senna smiled back as she put a stray bang behind her ear. "Hi Ichigo."

Ichigo couldn't believe how much she had changed. How long have they been separated from each other? Five years. And she's really changed. She's grown into a lady. He placed a hand above her head, as she gazed up at his tall figure. "You've changed a lot, Senna," he said, smiling down at his childhood friend.

"Yeah, I agree," she said with a nod. She didn't know why, but there seemed to be some kind of weird tension between them. It wasn't as it used to be. And him...he hasn't changed. Not one bit. He was still the same, old Ichigo. Her best friend, the one who always protected her when others bullied her, and...her first love, although she never got to tell him that. She knew it was all her fault, though. Because she didn't realize that she was in love with him until she was taken to Canada.

She reached up and pinched Ichigo's cheek, causing him to wince. "Ow," he complained, rubbing his cheek. Senna giggled softly as she stared at Ichigo. She tried hard...so hard to fight back the tears that formed behind her eyes. Lowering her head, she quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She stared up at Ichigo again...only this time, she wasn't giggling. She was looking at him as if it was the last time she would ever see him. Ichigo leaned closer to her and examined her face.

"Uh...Senna?"

"Ichigo, I...-"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her. Why was she being weird all of a sudden? He was surprised when Senna immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. Her actions were all too sudden that it took almost a minute for his brain to register what she was doing. Carefully, he wrapped both arms on her waist.

"Senna--"

"Ichigo...." she sobbed. "I...I missed you. So much." Senna tightened her grip on him. Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. There was something not quite right about Senna's actions, that's for sure. And her grip on him....it had a different feel to it. It was sort of..._possessive_. He quickly pushed all those thoughts away as he moved his hands up to Senna's shoulders. Gently, he pushed her away from him. He looked straight into her bright, orange orbs, not taking away his hands from her shoulders. Then, carefully, he brought his palm onto her cheek and gently caressed it.

_Ichigo...if you only knew how I feel..._

Ichigo wiped the tears away from her eyes and smiled. "Now, now. You're making me soft, buddy," he said playfully, making the purple-haired girl giggle again. This time, Ichigo let himself laugh. She still had that funny bone, no matter show she's changed.

"Ichigo, can we hang out today?"

Smirking, Ichigo nodded and patted the seat behind him. Senna gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. "Baka."

~~~~~~~~~~~.

Tatsuki watched angrily as she saw Ichigo in his bike head off with that Senna-girl. She crossed her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes irritably. That girl's got one hell of a nerve! Tatsuki didn't care if she's his freaking childhood friend. And she didn't care no matter how close they were.

She was about to yell out something to the carrot-top when that girl with the purple hair appeared behind him. She shook her head. Talk about bad timing. And where was that midget Rukia when you needed her? Tatsuki huffed. Boy, if she were Rukia, she would never let a purple-head touch her guy. No. Matter. What. Heck, she had given up on _him_ because of that darn midget! And yet, she lets Ichigo to be with that...whatever-she-is!!! She rolled her eyes and turned to walk away.

_Oh well...I guess I'd just better let 'em handle it. When that midget Rukia gets too careless, that's when I'll interfere._

~~~~~~~~~~~.

"So...how are you?," Senna asked, as she continued walking. She looked around Karakura Park. It was still the same as ever. Trees filled the sides and some bushes were planted here and there. There were benches too, but some were dirty and some were filled with dried snow.

"Are you silly? Of course I'm fine. See? I'm still alive."

Senna rolled her eyes. "I know that, dummy. I mean, how's your life? How's everything?"

"It's all...fine, I guess," said Ichigo with a shrug. "I have a new family. There's dad, and auntie, and...Rukia."

Senna winced upon hearing _that _name. Grandma Jiang, who was also her close friend, told her all about their family even before she moved back to Karakura. She and the old lady had been very close, especially when she was a lot younger. She spent almost all of her time at the Kurosaki household back then, that it was like she was already part of their family. It all seemed normal until now, but there was one fact she could never, ever accept to be true.

~~~~~~~~~~~.

_The sound of her loud cellphone ringtone filled her room as Senna suddenly stopped brushing her hair. She was getting ready for bed, and was already in her pajamas. She stood up from her desk and walked towards her night table._

_She picked up her phone. "Uh...hello?"_

_"Senna? How are you, dear?" asked a gentle voice. Senna's eyes lit up. It was none other than Grandma Jiang, her favorite grandmother in the whole world._

_"Grandma Jiang! Wow...I missed you so much, Grandma! I'm fine," she said with a smile._

_"It's nice to hear that, my dear. I'm in the province right now. I heard you're in Karakura?"_

_"Yes, I am, Grandma. How are you? How's everyone?"_

_"Oh, I'm fine, my dear. I left Karakura just before you moved back. And I missed you too," Grandma paused and sighed. "Everyone's doing fine too. We have a new family. My son, Byakuya, decided to remarry. And now, his fiance, along with her seventeen-year-old daughter had moved in. They're all living together."_

_Senna furrowed her eyebrows. Wow, a lot of things are going on with the Kurosaki's life. She thought hard. The news was just too big to be absorbed by her mind quickly. A woman...and her seventeen-year-old daughter? That was just about the same age as she was. Then that would mean...._

_"So, Ichigo has a sister!?" she asked, bewildered._

_"Yes...y-yes, he has a sister." _

_Senna furrowed her eyebrows again. Grandma Jiang seemed to be bothered by something. But what could that be? She cleared her throat and tried to calm down herself. She was being too excited. "Grandma, what's wrong? You suddenly seemed...worried," she said softly._

_"I am worried, my dear. I'm worried about my grandson."_

_"Ichigo? Why, Grandma?" _

_"He and that girl...his sister-to-be...they're not acting like the way siblings do."_

_Senna frowned. What did she mean?_

_"I...I think they're a couple or something. Whether it happened before or after their parents met each other, I don't know. You see, that girl is studying in the same university as Ichigo. I'm not quite sure how they met each other, since Ichigo is a freshman, and Rukia is a sophomore. Ichigo is a month older than her, though."_

_Senna's frown deepened. What? How come? So many questions were running through her mind as she thought of Ichigo, his new family...and that girl. She suddenly thought of Ichigo's father's company. If Ichigo and that girl, who was supposed to be his sister, are really going out, then...they could ruin the family's reputation. And that..might be the cause of their company's downfall. She shook her head as if to wash those thoughts away._

_"Uh...Grandma? Don't worry...I will help you."_

_"That's very nice of you, dear...but I'm not quite sure if my grandson would listen, though."_

_"I will try, Grandma."_

_"Thank you, Senna dear. I'm so glad that Ichigo has you in his life. I hope he realizes that."_

_"No problem, Grandma. Good night."_

_"Good night too, Senna."_

~~~~~~~~~~~.

"So there," Ichigo continued. "That's my new family."

"It seems that you and your sister are getting along pretty well. That's good."

"Uh, yeah...she is nice. But, she is horrible at cooking. She tries her best, though. She's really awesome, once you get to meet her. And she's a darn midget."

Senna giggled. "Wow, that's...nice."

~~~~~~~~~~~.

Kaien adjusted his bag as he walked inside the spacious, college library. As soon as he was inside, he spotted the librarian's desk. A brown-haired woman was sitting behind the desk, arranging some papers. She looked like someone in her late 20's, and was wearing thin-rimmed glasses. She wore a longsleeved blouse and black slacks. Her brown hair hung loosely down her shoulders.

The librarian looked up when she saw Kaien approach her. She cleared her throat and intoduced herself. "Hello there, may I help you?" she greeted with a slight smile. Kaien looked at her. On the librarian's I.D. was the name 'Yoshino'.

He smiled back. "I'm looking for some reference books, Yoshino-san. I'm just new here."

"Oh, you're that new professor, eh? Nice to meet you, then. The reference books are located in that aisle. You can find them easily," Yoshino said, pointing her hand into the direction of the aisle. She flashed him a smile before turning back to her paperwork. Kaien said a quick 'thank you' to the woman before heading towards the aisle.

He browsed carefully through the rows and rows of books. He quickly found the one he was looking for. It was a bright green one. As he reached out to pull it, he was surprised as his hand touched...another hand!? He tilted his head toward the side only to find...Rukia. His eyes widened upon the surprise. He managed to give her a small smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~.

Rukia's jaw dropped. _K-kaien!? _Her eyebrows twitched and she was about to pull out that huge dictionary out of her bag again, but quickly recollected herself and decided against it. She felt herself ease up when she suddenly saw him smile.

_Rukia, say something, you idiot!!!_

"Uh...hi," she muttered, taking a deep breath and pulling back her hand. As she gazed up at him, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. Sometimes, when you meet again with a person whom you have never seen in such a long time, it feels just like that. Especially when that person was your _first _love.

"Hi there, pipsqueak!"

Rukia gave a soft chuckle. _He hasn't changed at all..._Back then in high school, Rukia was the smallest person in class. Actually, the moment that her hand met with Kaien's at the bookshelf, she was reaching up, while the dark-haired man was bending down. And her hands were...incredibly small next to his larger one. She gave him a playful shove and said, "You haven't changed, _professor_."

Kaien patted her head. He couldn't believe how much she'd grown. We'll, maybe not physically...He couldn't believe that this was the Rukia he once knew. The one who was always bullied and made fun of. It was a good thing, though, that she had changed. As he looked straight into her eyes, he could tell that the raven-haired girl now knew how to stand up for herself.

And...she's gotten much more beautiful. Kaien smiled at himself.

"How are you?," he asked, gently, not taking his hand off of her head.

"I'm fine," she answered with a smile. "I'm in college!"

He laughed. "You still have that funny bone, you little pipsqueak! How's Hisana-san? I heard she's about to remarry."

"Yeah, she's gonna marry our college president. She's pretty fine, and they're getting along well. My mom's working in a restaurant. That's where she and uncle met. What about you, Kaien? What really brings you here?," she asked, smiling up at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~.

"Hime-chan, Hime-chan!," Hinamori half-squealed, half-whispered. She was jumping up and down and was pointing toward a bookshelf.

"Shhh! Be quiet, Hinamori! We're at library! Yoshino-sensei will kick us out if you don't quit that, squealing thing," Orihime hissed, shuffling through the papers she laid out on the table.

"But look, Hime-chan!," the dark-haired girl squealed again, "Rukia! And that new professor! They're hanging out! Look, look!," she said, shaking Orihime by the shoulders. The auburn-haired girl sighed and turned to her impatient friend.

"Okay, okay. Just stop squealing, or we'll get in trouble." As Orihime stood up from her chair, a particular sight caught her eye. There, by that aisle on the left, was their purple-eyed best friend. Orihime's eyes grew wide as her hand shot up to her mouth as if to prevent herself from screaming.

Their friend sure was gonna be in trouble if Ichigo finds out about this.

~~~~~~~~~~~.

"Well, you know me. It's always been my dream to become a college professor, remember?," Kaien said, looking around the room and turning back to Rukia. "I know it's pretty early, but I'm really thankful that I was able to finish my college course so fast. I'm only three years older than you, Rukia."

Kaien laughed. He knew it was really silly. Most people, even his father, told him that he should just be in college by now. After being really stubborn about it, he finally gained his father's approval.

"I know," Rukia said. "So you studied really hard and got accelerated?"

Kaien nodded. "Yeah. Then I finally reached college and earned my bachelor's degree."

Rukia smiled. "I'm proud of you, Kaien. But knowing you, I'm pretty sure you worked hard again to go beyond your bachelor's degree," she said with a chuckle. "You're the most studious person I've ever met!"

Kaien pinched her lightly on the cheek. "You know me too well!"

"Yup! And then it just so happens that you applied to the same university that I was studying in!"

Kaien opened his mouth again but quickly stopped himself. _Should I tell her about Miyako_? Kaien shook his head and decided against it. The moment he found out that Rukia was studying in the same university that he applied for, he felt...really strange. The feeling was really very uncommon to him, since he only saw Rukia as his little sister. He was sure he's never developed any romantic feelings for the raven-haired girl, even during the high school. Sure, they were inseparable...but that was only because he was her tutor. But now...it was all...different. What exactly was stopping him from admitting to her that he met someone whom he's become attracted to?

"Kaien?," Rukia asked, waving her hands in front of the dark-haired man.

Kaien blinked and immediately snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, sorry, pipsqueak!," he said with a chuckle. "Uh...will you excuse me? I-I have to go somewhere."

Rukia nodded, confusion etched on her features. "Sure..."

"I guess I'll see you then," Kaien muttered before turning to leave.

_What was that all about?_

* * *

Senna checked her watch. It was almost dinnertime! She turned to the carrot-top beside her, who was staring off into space. "Ichigo?"

"Oh...yeah?," he muttered, suddenly turning to look back at her. They were walking side by side. It was already nighttime as they walked on the dimly lit street of Karakura Park. "What is it, Senna? Do you need to go home now?"

Senna smiled and nodded. "My mom's probably worried about me. See, it's my turn to cook dinner tonight," she said, sighing. She really wanted to hang out with him, but her mother probably needed her right now. She turned to look at Ichigo and felt her heart beating faster and faster. This was it. She _knew _she was in love with him, and the feeling was undeniable. Those amber eyes, his lips...everything about him was so appealing to her. She immediately lowered her head as realization dawned on her. Ichigo...there was no way he was ever gonna be hers if he and his own sister were together. She winced bitterly as an image of Ichigo and Rukia, whose fingers were intertwined with one another, came into her mind.

"Oh...okay, then. Go home," Ichigo said matter-of-factly as he dug his hands onto his pocket.

Senna gave an exasperated sigh. _Cold as ever..._She tried to shake herself. This was the Ichigo she knew! She couldn't just expect him to be warm towards her, just because they've met again. She knew the carrot-top to be cool towards almost everybody. She clenched her fists and as she took a deep breath, she raced one step ahead of him and turned to face him directly.

"Ichigo...I really missed you, you know. And I'm happy to have spent my afternoon with you. I hope we can hang out again," she said, smiling as brightly as she could.

The carrot-top gave a slight nod as Senna finally noticed a slight sign of uninterest in his amber eyes. _As I thought...he is worried about her after all. No matter what I say or do...he can't even notice me. But I...._Senna clenched her fists again and shut her eyes tight. She couldn't give up. To her, he was everything. And the only thing she can do now...was to be _his_ everything. She couldn't give up on him. Sure, loving him required a lot of patience and sacrifice. But...so what? She loved him anyway.

_I mustn't give up..._

"Goodbye, Ichigo," she said softly before moving closer to him. Then without warning, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the cheek. As she quickly pulled back, she saw his surprised face, but...not the kind of reaction she had wanted. Ichigo placed his hands on her shoulders and very gently pushed her away from him. Senna's bright orange eyes grew wide. She _knew _this action...she knew what he meant.

She lowered her head and walked away as fast as she could. Yeah, she did her best, but...it was just too much. She wanted to hug him, to kiss him, to have him as more than her best friend. But there was no way _that _could happen as long as his "sister" was around. Her legs broke into a run as she quickly wiped away tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. Everything...everything had been fine between them. When she was in Canada, he would always call and ask how she was. Then, she'd do the same thing. But now...right now, everything had changed. For her, it was like suddenly entering a completely different world. A world...where the one she loved...the one she wanted to be with forever...was being taken away from her.

_Why can't you just see how much I love you, Ichigo? Why do you keep being blind? _

_

* * *

_The carrot-top stared blankly at his purple-haired friend as he saw her break into a run. He scratched his head, confusion etched in his features. Why was his friend being like that, anyway? A thought suddenly stuck him as he let his amber eyes grow wide.

_She knew!? She knew it all...she knew about us...but...how?_

_And that letter? It can't be! She must've known it from--_

Ichigo clenched his fists as he finally thought of what had happened as he went home two days ago.

* * *

**Argh! I hate this chapter! I hate it, hate it!!! Anyway, it's still up to you if you love it or hate it! But I hate it! Well, I guess it's juts...some sort of filler or something like that!**

**.ARGGGGHHH! Gonna start on Chap 22 now.**

**.PLEASE REVIEW!!! ^_^ You guys _have got _to gimme some inspiration, you know!? Thanks anyway!  
**


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